Doctor of Philosophy
Internship/Practicum

*Please see the "Downloadable Forms" section of this website for Internship/Practicum forms.

DESCRIPTION
The doctoral level Counseling Internship is a 12-month supervised experience in which the student provides a minimum of 1200 hours of experience at an approved internship site. The internship is critical to the student's complete educational experience. It provides the opportunity to experience counseling praxis in vivo with the most difficult clinical populations. Exposure to team treatment (psychiatry, clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and socialwork) is emphasized.

Doctoral level counselors and/or psychologists provide on-site supervision. Each intern is also supervised by a full-time faculty member of the department.

Each site is approved by department faculty The site will provide the intern with supervised individual and group therapy; experience with the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders; models and methods for assessing mental status; specific theories of psychotherapy for initiating, maintaining and terminating therapy; experience with basic classifications, indications, and contraindications for the commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications.

LIABILITY INSURANCE
It is the responsibility of the student to arrange for professional liability insurance coverage throughout the duration of the internship experience. Information regarding the availability and cost of such insurance is availablefrom the department secretary or faculty.

COMPLETION OF INTERNSHIPS
As stated previously, the internship provides 1200 hours of on-site counseling experience. This requirement will be fulfilled throughout one full year, or approximately fifty weeks. This means that the student will be involved at the internship site during times in which the academic community is traditionally on leave (Christmas vacation, Spring Break, etc.). Thus, a general guideline of 400 hours per semester is used to assess progress toward completion ofthe internship experience.

Students are responsible for securing and utilizing internship sites which allow them to complete the specified hours. Due to the nature of the internship experience and the difficulty in securing sites which can guarantee adequate clients and appropriate supervision, it is not uncommon for students to adjust their time on-site in order to meet this expectation.

The faculty supervisor will monitor the student's progress, assisting whenever possible to maximize the educational experience. This monitoring includes assessing the quality and quantity of the experience and recommending adaptations and adjustments when necessary.

When a student has not accrued the required number of hours at the end of a semester:

Students accruing less than 85% of the required hours at the completion of an internship or practicum class receive an unsatisfactory grade unless there are extenuating circumstances. Examples of extenuating circumstances include a prolonged illness, failure of the site to provide a sufficient number of clients, or other circumstances beyond the control of the student.

Students who complete 85%-99%, or students who accrue less than 85% of their required hours but have extenuating circumstances receive a grade of IP. Arrangements will be made with the faculty supervisor to complete the requirements of the course.