Clinical Externship

Each year, Lorenz collaborates with the University of Minnesota School of Family Social Science and other doctoral programs to offer opportunities for doctoral students wishing to remain clinically active alongside school. The workload is much less than what is expected of a practicum student, and is scheduled around the candidate’s class schedule, which enables students to focus on their academic program while maintaining a minimum level of clinical activity. This position is paid and open to pre-licensed clinicians. Externs have the opportunity to provide direct therapy with couples and families. Candidates with interest in working with young children and their families are especially encouraged to apply.

The Clinic

Lorenz Clinic is a group private practice focused on the mental health needs of children, families, and adults. While the majority of our services are provided under the umbrella of managed care, we have community partnerships that allow us to service those without insurance. Located on the edge of the Minneapolis Metropolitan area, our five locations (Victoria, Chaska, Wayzata, Prior Lake, and Rosemount) are located approximately 30-35 miles south/southwest of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and provide needed access to psychological services for both suburban and rural communities. In addition to its overall clinical mission, the clinic hosts a vibrant training program. The clinic is actively developing a vertically-integrated model of care that includes home-based, outpatient, day treatment, and medication management. Psychologists with special competency with children or families as well as bilingual candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

Job Duties

  • Provide clinical services (conducting diagnostic assessments, treatment planning, psychotherapy, day treatment, and discharge planning) for clients
  • Carry and maintain a psychotherapy caseload as defined by clinic, in-home or center-based as needed
  • Provide Crisis assistance as needed
  • Attend and participate in individual and/or group supervision, case consultation, Grand Rounds, business meetings, and other meetings as required by the Clinic
  • Comply with DHS and insurance standards for clinical documentation
  • Strictly comply with licensing board rules and APA and AAMFT Codes of Ethics
  • Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of the Clinic
  • Bill appropriate procedural codes accurately and timely, while keeping abreast of billing issues and discuss with patients when necessary
  • Assist in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
  • Adhere to additional directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
  • Other duties as assigned

Requirements

  • A master’s or doctoral degree in psychology, clinical counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy, Social Work, or similar field from a regionally-accredited academic program
  • Must comply with requirements for licensure or board certification as a mental health professional including supervised practice in the delivery of mental health services for the treatment of mental illness, or
  • Be a student in a bona fide field placement or internship under a program leading to completion of the requirements for licensure as a mental health professional

Training Program

Lorenz Clinic’s focus is that it is a training clinic. Our existing training program includes master’s-level family therapy practicum placements, post-master’s fellowships, and a postdoctoral psychology fellowship supervised by licensed psychologists and family therapists. Because the training program is an outgrowth of our fierce dedication to serving the underserved, we offer significantly reduced fee services to those in financial need. The clinic has a rich schedule of invited speakers; recent speakers have included Drs. Froma Walsh, Mac Baird, Irvin Yalom, Bruce Perry, Pauline Boss, Sue Johnson, Mary Catherine Bateson, Harry Aponte, and Carol Falender. More information about the larger training program can be found here or by contacting the Training Director, Dr. BJ Suarez, at employment@lorenzclinic.com.

Benefits

Clinical Externs enjoy being part of an organized group learning dynamic. The program features a training cohort with several enriching learning activities. Fellows can receive most required licensure supervision and numerous opportunities for continuing education including monthly case consultation and didactic trainings. Full-time externs are eligible for employee benefits.

To Apply

To apply for this position, email your CV and a cover letter to Dr. BJ Suarez, Training Director, at employment@lorenzclinic.com. In addition to your strengths, cover letters should broadly outline your professional goals, commitment to the common good, and a brief narrative of your experience providing psychotherapy. Applicants who are invited to interview may be asked to provide writing samples and a letter of recommendation from a past clinical supervisor.

Current Clinical Externs & Alumni

  • Ari Schoenholtz, M.A. – The Wright Institute (2024-present)
  • Janette Driscoll, M.S. – Brigham Young University (2022-present)
  • Connor Callahan, M.S. – University of Minnesota (2020-22)
  • Erin Guyette, M.S. – University of Minnesota (2020-22)
  • Kimberly Stewart, M.A. – University of Oklahoma (2019-20)
  • Eugene Hall, Ph.D. – University of Minnesota (2018-20)

Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology

Download our Internship Brochure

Lorenz offers a Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology. The placement starts in late August each year and requires a full-time, year-long commitment. Interns function in an applied, clinical role and receive structured training in the provision of direct client contact with contextually-informed psychotherapy, psychological assessment, and supervision. Interns present at the clinic’s grand rounds and provide a limited number of didactics in the larger training program.

The internship features a rich invited speaker series, monthly grand rounds, and regular case consultation in addition to professional development, assessment, and clinical supervision.

The internship is in the spirit of a practitioner-scholar model and requires enrollment in a doctoral degree from an APA/CPA-accredited graduate program in counseling, clinical, or school psychology or enrollment in a doctoral program eligible for participation in APPIC Post-Vacancy Match Service. Applications must be completed through APPIC’s AAPI portal with the appropriate letters of recommendation and integrated report. The internship includes a competitive annual stipend. Admission is competitive, as we select from a national pool of those with additional training in delivering services to children, families, and/or couples. The placement is designed to meet the predoctoral requirements for licensure as a psychologist in Minnesota. Consultation with graduate school programs will occur throughout the internship to ensure that the intern is making progress toward graduation upon completion of the internship.

Who is Eligible?

This position is open to graduate student clinicians in their final year of study seeking their doctoral internship within a structured and vibrant clinical training program. The internship is a unique position that involves a graduate-level clinical intern functioning in an applied clinical role as a clinical trainee within the clinic’s training program. The position is designed to be a one-year, 2000-hour, temporary, full-time training placement for trainees enrolled in a doctoral degree program in psychology in their final year of study.

Interns are required to train in the following competencies throughout the Internship. The American Psychological Association’s profession-wide competencies are in the following areas:

  • Research
  • Ethical and Legal Standards
  • Individual and Cultural Diversity
  • Professional Values and Attitudes
  • Communication and Interpersonal Skills
  • Assessment
  • Intervention
  • Supervision
  • Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills

Job Duties

Job duties include but are not limited to:

  • Carrying psychotherapy and assessment caseload as defined by clinic
  • Ability and availability to meet clients during times that work for them (typically at least 2 later evenings per week)
  • Ability to work a 5-day workweek and offer appointment times that work for clients
  • Ability to provide clinical services to a wide variety of populations (i.e., ages, populations, diagnoses, etc.) under clinical supervision
  • Ability to conduct supervised practice with children of all ages and their families
  • The provision of clinical services including conducting diagnostic assessments, psychological evaluations, treatment planning, psychotherapy, and discharge planning for patients of the clinic
  • Attending and participating in individual supervision, monthly case consultation, Grand Rounds, business meetings, and other meetings as required by Clinic
  • Providing intermittent didactics within clinic’s training program as assigned
  • Compliance with clinic documentation standards
  • Compliance with licensing board rules, APA Code of Ethics, and DHS regulations and guidelines
  • Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of clinic
  • Keeping abreast of billing issues and discussing same with patients when necessary
  • Assisting in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
  • Adherence to directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
  • Other duties as assigned

Requirements

  • Completion of the academic requirements from an APA/CPA-accredited doctoral degree in counseling, clinical, or school psychology prior to start date.
  • Compliance with respective board rule related to pursuit of licensure
  • Ability and willingness to service patients primarily on an outpatient basis (with some services done in-home or in the community as cases demand)
  • Flexibility to meet when patients are available to meet (usually requires some evenings)
  • Evidence of a high level of professionalism within the field
  • Strong clinical acumen
  • An expressed interest in working with children and families
  • Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team
  • Excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills
  • Ability and willingness to provide services to children, adolescents, and families
  • Ability to respect diversity and integrate issues of culture into case conceptualizations
  • Ability to engage with patients who may be ambivalent about treatment
  • Ability to adapt interventions to patients’ strengths, skills, and developmental levels
  • Commitment to empowering patients to solve their own problems when necessary
  • Ability to intervene decisively, when necessary, to protect patient safety
  • Ability to set appropriate boundaries and limits for best practice
  • Ability to comply with clinic documentation standards
  • Ability to maintain a full caseload as defined by clinic

Benefits

Interns receive three weeks of paid time off, access to employer-sponsored group medical and dental insurance, short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, life insurance, 401K with company match, and paid holidays.

To Apply

Admission to our training program is competitive. To apply for a training placement, please submit your application via APPIC’s AAPI portal. The clinic’s selection policies are modeled on the APPIC selection guidelines. If you have questions about how to apply, please contact Dr. BJ Suarez, Training Director, at employment@lorenzclinic.com.

Note: All offers are contingent upon successful completion of reference checks, I9, and background checks including Minnesota Statute 148.01 “Minnesota Sexual Exploitation Act.” This statute requires Lorenz Clinic contact employers from at least the last five years to determine whether any sexual exploitation of clients has occurred.  Applicants who do not successfully pass these background checks will be dismissed from the placement.

Master’s Practicum / Internship

The Clinic

Lorenz Clinic is a group private practice focused on the mental health needs of children, families, and adults. While the majority of our services are provided under the umbrella of managed care, we have community partnerships that allow us to service those without insurance. Located on the edge of the Minneapolis Metropolitan area, our five locations (Victoria, Chaska, Wayzata, Prior Lake, and Rosemount) are located approximately 30-35 miles south/southwest of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and provide needed access to psychological services for both suburban and rural communities. In addition to its overall clinical mission, the clinic hosts a vibrant training program. The clinic is actively developing a vertically-integrated model of care that includes home-based, outpatient, day treatment, and medication management. Psychologists with special competency with children or families as well as bilingual candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

Description

Lorenz Clinic hosts a clinical practicum for master’s students from counseling, Marriage & Family Therapy, early childhood (infant mental health), social work, or child-focused degree programs. The Clinic offers placements within the Outpatient, Community-Based, Intensive Group, and Day Treatment psychotherapy programs and offers an hourly stipend. Practicum students work within a community mental health clinic to provide integrative psychotherapy services from a systemic and relational lens. Practicum students learn to conduct evidence-based psychotherapy while leveraging the therapeutic relationship to effect sustainable change. The outpatient or community-based placement requires at least 20-hours and at least two evenings per week. The intensive group and day treatment placements require 18-22 hours per week and have set shifts in the daytime and early evening. In our experience, the educational quality of a practicum is negatively correlated with a student’s concurrent credit load, and students are encouraged to begin practicum only after completing the majority of their degree requirements.

APPLY NOW

Lorenz Clinic will be accepting applications for our Practicum starting in either January, June, or September. Practica run for either 9 or 12 months, depending on students’ needs and academic program requirements. The practicum placement meets the needs for COAMFTE or CACREP standards in clinical field placements. Though not required, year-long placements are preferred in order to assure clients the highest level of continuity between trainees, especially for those seeking relational therapy hours. 

The highlights of the training program are extensive training opportunities with a mix of several monthly hours of supervision, observation, and didactics to achieve your personal learning goals. Practicum students benefit from interacting with fellow trainees, mental health professionals in multiple venues, but also participate in a multi-disciplinary cohort of practicum students from various programs.

Practicum students participate in a comprehensive training schedule, which includes the following training activities on a regular basis:

  • 1 dedicated weekly hour of supervision with a board-approved supervisor
  • 1 weekly hour of practicum classroom
  • 1 monthly hour of practicum professional seminar
  • 1 monthly hour of practicum case consultation
  • 2 monthly hours of Lunch and Learns
  • 1 monthly hour of Grand Rounds
  • Social Work Test prep workshop for the ASWB Master’s Exam (en route LGSW)
  • Additional clinic-wide trainings

Although the clinic serves clients throughout the lifespan, practicum students are able to focus on the client population that best suits their learning goals.  Students should select a track that most closely fits their interests and graduate program requirements: 

  • Outpatient Psychotherapy
  • Early Childhood Day Treatment
  • Intensive Outpatient Program (Child/Adolescent/Adult
  • Community-Based Therapy (In-Home/Outpatient Hybrid) 

Job Duties

  • Provide in-person clinical services (conducting diagnostic assessments, treatment planning, psychotherapy, day treatment, and discharge planning) for clients under supervision 
  • Carry and maintain an in-person psychotherapy caseload as assigned 
  • Provide Crisis assistance as needed, under supervision 
  • Attend and participate in individual and/or group supervision, case consultation, Grand Rounds, business meetings, and other meetings when not conflicting with class schedules
  • Comply with DHS and insurance standards for clinical documentation
  • Strictly comply with licensing board rules and APA and AAMFT Codes of Ethics
  • Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of the Clinic
  • Bill appropriate procedural codes accurately and timely, while keeping abreast of billing issues and discuss with patients when necessary
  • Assist in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
  • Adhere to additional directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
  • Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Practicum students must be concurrently enrolled in a Master’s clinical mental health program that requires a clinical field placement for graduation.

Prerequisite Coursework:

  • Ethics
  • Counseling Theories
  • Counseling Skills
  • Psychopathology 

Lorenz Clinic is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Practicum at Lorenz pays $19 per hour beginning 6/1/2025, at which point current students will be grandfathered in.

To Apply

To apply for this internship, email your CV and a cover letter addressing your suitability for the role in PDF format to Dr. BJ Suarez, Training Director, at employment@lorenzclinic.com or apply online.

Note: All practicum placement offers are contingent upon successful completion of reference checks and background checks including Minnesota Statute 148.01 “Minnesota Sexual Exploitation Act.” This statute requires Lorenz Clinic contact employers from at least the last five years to determine whether any sexual exploitation of clients has occurred. Applicants who do not successfully pass these background checks will be dismissed from the placement.

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