Behavioral Health Internship Programs

Contra Costa Behavioral Health offers integrated mental health programs and services for children, adolescents, and adults with severe and persistent mental illness. The system of care offered by the Behavioral Health Division includes our mental health staff, alcohol and drug use services, community-based organizations, and a network of private providers.

Program Summary

The Contra Costa Behavioral Health intern and trainee program prepares clinicians to practice in the public mental health system. We enroll and train approximately 20-25 doctoral and master's level psychology interns and trainees each year.

Trainings:

• We provide one instructive seminar the third Wednesday of each month on specialized mental health topics. All interns/trainees attend this seminar together from 9:00 am-12:00 pm.
• Weekly trainings and group supervision focused on specific populations served at each site.
• Trainings related to working with diverse populations while practicing cultural humility are incorporated throughout our curriculum.
• All interns/trainees are provided at least one hour of individual supervision each week.

Who Can Apply

At this time, we accept applicants who are currently enrolled in a graduate program or those graduating after May/June 2026.

If you have graduated prior to May/June 2026, we encourage you to apply for full-time employment with the county under the Mental Health Clinical Specialist classification.

Intern and trainee opportunities are available for individuals in the adult, older adult, and children's programs as part of their graduate school curriculum. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that the clinical placement in Contra Costa Behavioral Health meets the requirements of the academic program and their respective licensing board.

We accept interns/trainees from many graduate programs in the Bay Area. At this time, we do no accept applications from students enrolled in online programs. Each placement site that is currently available is shown in the Services and Locations section below.

Students accepted to the program may be eligible to be hired as student interns and receive hourly pay.

How to Apply

Beginning in January 2026, we will accept applications for placements from September 2026 to June 2027.

Services and Locations

Please choose a program for detailed information about the placement sites and the application procedure. Contact the intern coordinator at each site directly for questions related to that training site.