Practicum & Internship Requirements

Practicum and Internship Sites
Practicum and internship sites are selected on the basis of the student's stated career goals and available settings.  School counselor candidates who are currently teaching usually complete their internship at their schools. Community counseling candidates options include corrections settings, youth service agencies, community mental health centers, hospitals, and private, non-profit groups such as Family and Child Services. A list of practicum and internship sites is available on the counseling homepage.

Sites must be in a place where the intern is provided a broad range of clientele, counseling orientations, and counseling experiences. Students must be able to do group counseling on the site.

If a student wishes to investigate a new site, the counseling practicum and internship coordinator must be consulted. New sites will be evaluated by the counseling practicum and internship coordinator.      
supervisors are asked to complete a form, “Information Regarding Internship Site Supervisor(s)”, which is to be returned along with a copy of the site supervisor’s resume/vitae to the Counseling Program Office during the time the Counseling Internship Agreement is being processed.

Site Supervisor Qualifications

Community Counseling
A site supervisor is expected to have a minimum of three years of post-Master’s experience working as a counselor comparable to that in which the internship will occur. It is desirable for internship supervisors to be licensed, which applies to Mental Health Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Psychologists.  All site supervisors are asked to complete a form, “Information Regarding Internship Site Supervisor(s)”, which is to be returned along with a copy of the site supervisor’s resume/vitae to the Counseling Practicum and Internship Coordinator during the time the Counseling Internship Agreement is being processed.

School Counseling

School counseling students must have completed the fingerprinting/background check at the time of registration for COUN 554, School Counseling Practicum. An orientation to this process is done in COUN 551, and students are reminded of this requirement at candidacy. If a student has not met this requirement at registration for COUN 554, that student will be withdrawn from the course.

Community Counseling students must be registered counselor with the state of Washington at the time of registration for COUN 564, Community Counseling Practicum. An orientation to this process is done in COUN 551 and students are reminded of this requirement at candidacy.  If a student has not met this requirement at registration for COUN 564, that student will be withdrawn from the course.

Students are also encouraged to attend a practicum/internship orientation meeting held mid-October and mid-January. These will be announced in class and via email.
 
COUN 518 Field-based Group Counseling, COUN 554 School Counseling Practicum, COUN 564 Community Counseling Practicum, COUN 555-557 School Counseling Internship and Graduate Project and COUN 564-567 Community Counseling Internship all require an off-campus placement (these courses replace COUN 518 Group Practicum, and COUN 564-567 respectively). The goal of these courses is to provide an opportunity to practice and integrate skills and knowledge under the supervision of a competent, experienced professional. In addition to the information below, internship packets, agreement forms, course syllabi, supervisor information, and approved sites are available on the counseling homepage and in the counseling office. Carol Heinz, the Counseling Practicum and Internship Coordinator, is available at 206-296-5767; COUNcoord@seattleu.edu.

School Counseling students
School counseling students take COUN 554 School Counseling Practicum either winter quarter or spring quarter prior to the start of COUN 555 School Counseling Internship and Graduate Project I, Fall Quarter only. COUN 556 and 557 are winter quarter and spring, respectively. School counseling student take COUN 518 Field-based Group Counseling during the winter quarter of their internship at the internship site. All courses, except COUN 518, must be completed before the start of internship. The practicum chould be at a different school than the internship.

Community Counseling Students
Community Counseling students take COUN 564 Community Counseling Practicum either summer or fall. The internship sequence, COUN 565, 566, and 567 follow consecutively either fall, winter, spring or winter, spring, summer. Community Counseling students take COUN 518 Field-based Group Counseling either fall quarter or spring quarter at the internship site. All courses except COUN 518 and electives must be completed before the start of internship. The practicum and internship must be completed at the same site.

COUN 518, practicum and internship is a major commitment of time and energy: 518 requires a minimum of 7 group sessions; practicum is a 100 hour commitment that includes  a weekly class and supervision; internship is a 600 hour commitment that includes class time and supervision. The graduate project is an in-depth study in an area of interest. Refer to the syllabi for these courses for specific requirements and other information.

Placement Process
All information pertaining to field-based group counseling, practicum, and internship are available in the department office and on the counseling homepage. The students should become familiar with this information. Note that the field-based group counseling course should be completed at the internship site.

1. During student orientation, the student and advisor determine a tentative quarter to begin practicum and internship.
2. At candidacy, the student reserves a space for practicum and internship.
3. A practicum and internship orientation is offered twice a year, once in mid-October and in mid-April. Students are encouraged to attend one of these orientations nine to ten months before they begin practicum.
4. The student determines whether the prospective internship site meets the student's needs as well as the requirements for group counseling, practicum and internship. All placement sites must be approved by the counseling practicum and internship coordinator. Once the prospective internship site has been approved, the student reviews the requirements for field-based group counseling, practicum and internship with the prospective site supervisor. Note that school counselors, who are doing practicum at a different school than group counseling and internship, will meet with different supervisors.
5. The student completes appropriate agreements in consultation with the supervisor(s)-to-be if the supervisor-to-be agrees to each of the program requirements for practicum and/or internship, plus including the requirements for group counseling.
6. When the agreement(s) are signed by thestudent, the site supervisor(s) (and the school principal is necessary) it is returned to the department office. 
7. When the counseling practicum and internship coordinator has also signed the agreement, the original will be placed in the counseling and practicum and internship coordinator’s file.  Copies will be returned to the student and site supervisor(s).
8. The signed copies of appropriate agreement signifies approval to register for practicum, internship and field-based group counseling. Students may not register for the courses until signed agreement are on file with the counseling practicum and internship supervisor.

Community Counseling students are encouraged to initiate the process of locating a practicum and internship site early in their program. Although the student's advisor and the counseling practicum and internship coordinator are available to assist the student, the responsibility for locating a suitable practicum and internship sites ultimately rests with the student. 6-8 months before the student plans to begin the practicum, the student should contact prospective site(s) to obtain information about the site and to inquire about procedures and the time line for application. The student should contact the Practicum/Internship Coordinator regarding the viability of any internship site which has not had an intern from one of the Counseling programs during the past two years. All new, previously unused internship placement sites must be cleared by the Internship Coordinator.

School Counseling students must arrange for the field-based group counseling, practicum and internship with the Practicum/Internship Coordinator.

Additional Field-based Group Counseling, Practicum and Internship Policies

1. Field-based Group Counseling, Practicum and Internship are graded Credit (CR) or fail (F) based on the criteria for each respective course.
2. If a student is dismissed by practicum or internship site staff, such action can be grounds for dismissal from the counseling program. The Seattle University Fair Practices Policy (Part III) dictates the process to follow regarding the dismissal of a student in a program.
3. Supervision between fall and winter (3 weeks), winter and spring (1 week), and spring and summer (1 week) will be done on an on-call basis. A designated faculty member will be available for consultation. School counseling interns who start an internship prior to the beginning of fall quarter will meet with the practicum/internship coordinator in August, and have on-call supervision between their start date and the first day of the fall quarter. Community counseling interns who are on an internship between summer and fall (6 weeks) will have contact with a faculty member. Logs must be kept during this 6-week interim.
4. An intern may receive a stipend for an internship. An intern may work at the internship site, but the duties and responsibilities of the internship must be clearly different from the responsibilities that the intern has as an employee. The student must receive supervision for all of the duties and responsibilities counted for the internship. Consultation, in-service training or other learning opportunities must be available to the intern. The student must submit a learning plan with the internship contract that details how and when new learning opportunities will take place during the internship experience.
5. Field-based Group Counseling, Practicum and Internships must be completed at Seattle University.

CONTACT US
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Room 218
(206) 296-5750
(206) 296-1892 (Fax)
counsp@seattleu.edu
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