Internship

Catalog description

Internship is an intensive counseling experience which provides students with the opportunity to perform a variety of counseling activities expected of a professional mental health counselor (e.g. intake, application of diagnostic and therapeutic skills, documentation, information and referral techniques, staff meetings, and weekly supervision). Interns are required to gain a variety of counseling experiences including individual counseling and complete a minimum of ten hours of group facilitation as part of the total Internship experience. Sites are required to provide a comprehensive counseling experience. Sites that only provide one type of counseling experience (such as group facilitation or intake activities) will not be approved. This course is time-consuming and demanding. Students should be prepared to apply more hours to this course than to most other courses. Students will be required to meet weekly for a minimum of 60 consecutive minutes of uninterrupted time with their site supervisor; and a minimum of 90 minutes (or more) of weekly group supervision with the Internship class. The site supervisor is required to be a licensed mental health professional with a minimum of two years of post-licensure experience and state-approved training in supervising counselor trainees (CT). Weekly skill evaluations and activity logs are a critical component of this course. Self-growth experiential activities are associated with this course content. Students are required to complete Internship in conjunction with their Counseling curriculum. Acceptance into a section of Internship (COUN 6500) depends on the approval of the licensed faculty supervisor of the course. Hence, enrollment in this course requires permission of the faculty supervisor. Students are required to make copies of all syllabi and documentation regarding their field experience activities and save them as hard copies for licensure purposes. Tevera management and assessment system is required for this course. Tevera will assist students in building their virtual portfolio; however, safeguarding one's professional portfolio relies on personal diligence. If students change sites between practicum and internship, they have to go through the same pre-practicum process and resubmit all the required documents in Tevera prior to the start of class (please, see Clinical Handbook for details). Students are required to abide by the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) in their Internship experience and throughout their time in the counseling program. Students are required to obtain professional liability insurance (PLI) through ACA (student membership is required) and cannot see clients without a PLI. Students must obtain a HIPAA compliant recording device in this course. Students wishing to complete their Internship in an elementary and/or secondary school setting must obtain special permission from the Director of the Clinical Program. They will be required to verify that their field experience in a school setting will entail providing clinical mental health counseling services and not school counseling activities. Students may NOT do in-home counseling. Students whose sites require any virtual service delivery must complete telemental health training and submit both their own and their site supervisor’s training certificate verification prior to engaging in virtual counseling services. Students must complete all required documentation on Tevera to receive approval prior to engaging in virtual counseling services This course may be repeated for credit. No grades of Incomplete are permitted; hence, students should be prepared to complete all required assignments and clinical hours in Internship. For Internship students taking leave due to military or exceptional medical situations, see the internship faculty supervisor and/or clinical coordinator/designee for grade completion options. Content Areas: professional practice, professional identity, helping relationships, professional orientation and ethical practice, diagnosis, assessment, social and cultural diversity. Prerequisites : COUN 6000 or COUN 6100/COUN 6200 and their prerequisites. The Practicum faculty supervisor or counseling program coordinator must approve the student's initial registration for COUN 6500.