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SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Congratulations are for Michael Finlay, Ph.D., Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) psychology intern program supervisor, who received the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) Award for Innovation in Psychology Training for 2022.
The award recognizes outstanding psychologists who have demonstrated innovation in managing the challenges of COVID-19, particularly adapting APPIC member internship and postdoctoral training programs to address the impact of COVID-19 on trainee experiences, competency acquisition, and facilitation of professional development.
Finlay was new to his position in 2020 when the pandemic started, and colleagues describe Finlay as someone who always goes beyond what is expected of him as an intern supervisor. Finlay was also an intern in the DBH Psychology Internship Program in 2017-2018.
DBH’s Psychology Internship Program that Finlay supervises has a primary mission to provide high-quality training to assist doctoral psychology interns in developing competency in nine profession-wide competencies.
The internship program seeks to prepare interns for employment following graduation and encourages them to consider careers in public mental health.
In particular, the program helps prepares doctoral psychology students to work as staff members of the Department of Behavioral Health. By the end of the internship, interns will have developed the skills necessary to work as a pre-licensed psychologist in a community mental health setting or pursue specialization through postdoctoral training.
