BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Four doctoral psychology interns and one postdoctoral fellow graduated Thursday from the Palm Beach County Youth Services Department’s American Psychological Association-accredited training program, a milestone that arrived alongside big news for the program itself: a full 10-year reaccreditation from the APA.
The doctoral internship program is built to guide graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as they work toward becoming licensed, practicing psychologists. The department says the reaccreditation followed a comprehensive self-study and a 2025 site visit from the APA’s Commission on Accreditation, and it locks in the program’s standing for the next decade. The next site visit isn’t scheduled until 2035.
The training runs through the department’s Residential Treatment and Family Counseling Division, and it’s designed to give interns the full range of experience they’ll need for independent practice. Every intern completes a six-month residential rotation at the Highridge Family Center and a six-month outpatient rotation at the Education & Training Center — a rigorous, year-long track that adds up to roughly 2,000 hours of clinical work.
The graduating cohort is now heading into the next stage of their careers, with several staying on with the department and others moving into private practice or postdoctoral fellowships elsewhere in Florida and beyond.
- Dr. Jillian Hersman (Nova Southeastern University) completed her doctoral internship and will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at a private practice in Miami, Florida.
- Dr. Alexandra Perez (Nova Southeastern University) completed her doctoral internship and will continue her training with a postdoctoral fellowship at Palm Beach Behavioral Health and Wellness in Palm Beach County.
- Dr. Alyssa Payne (Nova Southeastern University) completed her doctoral internship and will remain with the Youth Services Department as a postdoctoral fellow at the Highridge Family Center.
- Dr. Lisa Carter (Nova Southeastern University) completed her doctoral internship and will also remain with the department, stepping into a postdoctoral fellowship at the Education & Training Center.
- Dr. Yadira Diaz Romero (Eastern Kentucky University) successfully completed her year-long postdoctoral fellowship at the Highridge Family Center, following her doctoral internship with the department the previous year. She is relocating to Indiana to complete her licensing exam and will practice as a psychologist in Chicago.
