Practicum and Internship

Orientation

Students are required to attend the Practicum and Internship Placement Orientation meeting one year prior to beginning the field experience, to learn about the placement process.

Practicum and Internship Deadline

  • Summer/Fall Quarter (Clinical Mental Health Counseling - Practicum/Internship): February 7

Application Process

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program seeks sites with quality supervision and in-service training, a variety of clientele and presenting problems, a philosophy of supervision which encourages respectful and responsible risk-taking by the intern, and a placement which seeks to help the student integrate theory with practice via case conceptualization.

The student counselor must be provided a broad range of clientele, counseling orientations, and counseling experiences. In keeping with the mission of the Counseling Programs, the student's site should include experiences with diverse populations.

Practicum

All students in the Counseling Programs are required to complete a one-quarter practicum. This involves a minimum of 100 hours on-site, 40 of which are direct contact hours. Students take part in a weekly group supervision class on campus, as well as individual or triadic supervision with a faculty supervisor one hour per week.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling students may need to complete a fingerprinting or background check through their agency or site prior to beginning practicum.

Internship

All students in the Counseling Programs are required to complete a three quarter internship. This involves 600 hours on-site (200 per quarter), 240 of which are direct contact hours (80 per quarter). Students also take part in weekly group supervision class on campus each quarter. 

As a student, you become eligible to enter internship after:

  • Successful completion of all coursework except the internship sequence and electives with a minimum 3.0 GPA; and
  • Approval by the counseling faculty of your general academic and interpersonal functioning using the criteria in the Personal and Professional Competencies document (see "Student Resources" section for this document).

Students must complete all of the following prior to enrollment in internship:

  • Submit a completed, signed Internship Agreement prior to the beginning of the internship, as well as a Risk Acknowledgement and Release form and a copy of your supervisor's resume. A hold on registration will occur if this is not completed.
  • Throughout the internship, students must submit a Disclosure of Information and Client Consent Form for each client.

 Practicum and Internship Agreements and the Practicum and Internship Handbooks

You will find the most recent version of the Practicum and Internship Agreements and the Practicum and Internship Handbook on the Student Resources Page of our website.