Supervised Counseling Practicum

Students will meet in class once per week for 75 minutes. The class functions as group supervision, however students may expect to complete 2-3 projects during the semester. Students may take the course twice for credit. The course is not offered during summer sessions.

Course Prerequisites

Prerequisites for the course are:

1. passing grades in PSY 246 (Psychology of Personality) OR PSY 264 (Social Psychology), along with PSY 247 (Abnormal Psychology) and PSY 450 (Intro to Theories of Counseling); and
2. consent of the instructor.

Community Site

As part of the course, students are required to secure a community based site in which to conduct their practicum and complete 120 hours during the semester, averaging 8-10 hours weekly.

Liability Insurance

Students are provided with liability insurance through the university and will not need coverage to be provided by the practicum site. Student liability insurance DOES NOT cover vehicular transportation of clients and therefore students are not permitted to transport clients.

Requirements

Sites must be willing and able to provide appropriate duties (see below) and hours. Scheduling of time is to be handled by the student and site. Assistance in finding appropriate sites is provided by the practicum instructor. Students may not accept payment for their practicum duties.

Documentation of practicum hours are required, necessary forms are provided to the student and site by the practicum instructor.

Students are asked to comply with all background screenings and trainings necessary to function within their practicum site.

No more than 3 hours per week of clerical/administrative duties such as filing, shredding, answering office phones (excluding crisis lines).

Appropriate Duties for Students enrolled in Supervised Counseling Practicum include:

• Clinical observation of individual/group sessions
• Staff meetings and training
• Educational readings and attendance at conferences
• Crisis intervention (in person and crisis phone lines)
• Milieu observation of population
• Shadowing of supervisor/staff
• Client support, advocacy, mentoring, tutoring, & research
• Psycho-educational group leadership
• Intake evaluations
• Documentation of client observations
• Administration of screening tools (administration of clinical screening tools is taken on a case-by-case basis)
• Participation in applicable legal proceedings (observing court, cps/dss meetings, guardian ad litum)
• Social skills training

Note that the above list is not meant to be exhaustive. Students may contact the practicum instructor if they would like to engage in duties that are not part of this list.

Students interested in learning more about PSY 451 may contact the instructor, Jennifer Myers, M.A., L.P.A.