Hello everyone and welcome to the orientation lecture on practicum and internship. Let's get started. Excuse me. This this is going to be a general overview of the practicum and internship experience. There's a lot more detail to go into about this, but I thought I would give you at least the thumbnail sketch on what it looks like, what some of the expectations and requirements are, and and more importantly, maybe where to find some of these um resources as well. So, the practicum internship, uh this is the part of the program that is meant to help you gain some clinical uh or school counseling experience uh towards the the the latter half of uh your time in the program. So in essence, you're putting all of the things that you've learned in in terms of content and skill in into clinical or or school practice. The practicum and internship experience spans over one year. Uh the uh practicum or there's one practicum course and then there's two internships and that's irregardless whether you're in the uh the clinical mental health or the school counseling program. Uh the courses are called different things but the the the amount of time is uh is is the same. So you start with your practicum and and then from there you graduate into your internship. There's going to be a lot of uh requirements uh uh for uh in in order to get your clinical sites or school sites approved uh from the program so you can uh go in and uh and earn your hours uh for for these classes and and all of our requirements are in alignment with KRP. So there's going to be a lot of things that we're going to say that need to that need to be present or you need to do and nine times out of 10 it's going to be because of K crap. Also sometimes state lensure boards have additional requirements for internships. So what I would do is I would just double check with your uh state lensure board to make sure that there's no additional uh clinical hours uh above and beyond what KREP requires uh in order to receive your provisional lensure. So, there are one or two states and if you check the um uh the if you check the table on our website that has to do with state lensure requirements, you know, we've found them and we've listed them, but you want to go back and double check to make sure that it hasn't changed. So, you know, we do update that table from time to time, but uh you know, sometimes they change thing things on us and we um and we don't see it right away. All right. Uh this is Dr. Dr. Poppy Moon. She is uh she serves as our practicum and internship coordinator for the counseling program. She oversees everything related to Praen internship uh re uh related to um uh approving clinical and school sites that that students uh want to uh engage in as well as working with all the site supervisors, handling all of the handbooks such as the um there's two handbooks that that I'm going to show you. Uh so she she makes all the revisions for those and she is also uh keeping our program in K compliance uh uh uh with our practicum and internship coordination. So she is is serving a vital role here uh in the program for us. Uh the this is a picture of the cover of the uh ulm counseling program uh uh uh clinical mental health uh practicum uh internship handbook. Uh so you can find this online if you uh go on to our website and uh look uh for the tabs uh for um uh uh for the you know for the inter practicum and internship experience. It will be found there. This is specifically for the clinical mental health counseling students. Um and this gets dated each year. So right now you're looking at the uh 2526 handbook. you know, if if this recording is is still up in two or three years, you know, we're going to be moved on to, you know, later editions because this handbook is always being revised. It's always evolving and changing. So, uh uh you know, I would recommend that you uh find it uh for your uh you know, the latest edition on the website, download it and start reading through it. This is the school counseling one uh school counseling practicum and internship handbook that gets uh updated each year as well by Dr. Moon. And then there's other materials on our website. Uh the handbooks are there. We also have a site supervisor manual that you're going to want to read through and also uh give a copy of that to your site supervisor for their review to make sure that they can meet all of the requirements uh that the program has. uh some most of the requirements come straight from Krep. There are a couple that that we have on our own but uh uh you know definitely look through that manual as well. And there's also uh Dr. Moon has created a number of recorded tutorials and uh uh in in in in terms of uh getting you ready to um uh you know uh to to find a site and uh go through the the application process for the site and to maintain the site as a practicum student or intern. So uh this is uh if you this is on our website. So if you just click on where is it at practicum and internship experience this page will show up and then there's also the practicum internship supervision. So you might want to click on that and uh to get more information about that as well. Okay the practicum requirements that this is just uh very uh uh uh you know more of the basic requirements. These aren't all of the requirements for practicum in order to uh pass the class. However, this is more the clinical requirement. So, this is uh the starting point of your fieldwork and in your clinicals. Uh and this is regardless of this if this is school uh practicum or clinical practicum that you need 100 hours of experience in a mental health or school setting over one semester. Uh 40 of those 100 hours have to be direct hours. And and that's when you're you know when when you're interacting with clients or students. uh you know if you're a clinician that you uh should be assessing, diagnosing and treating um you know uh clients who have mental emotional disorders using individual group uh and marriage and couple uh types of um uh approaches, play therapy approaches, you know, whatever the approaches are. Uh it it's really, you know, those direct hours have to have some kind of therapeutic effect. Same with students uh in in a school that uh if you're a practicum student in in a school that you have to be interacting with students whether you're talking with them about whatever uh or if you are running uh um psycho education groups you know that you know that those serve as primarily direct hours. Indirect hours are when you're doing paperwork, maybe attending meetings. Uh anything that is non uh you know directive with with clients can count as direct hours. Um typically it's going to be anywhere from 15 hours give or take uh 15 hours a week at your site uh uh to meet the requirements for your practicum. And and typically a lot of like for clinical uh practicums that's over the summer for the most part that most people take that. So that's over 10 weeks. And then for the school, uh, school practicum typically occurs in in the springtime. So you probably won't need, you know, 15 hours a week to meet the 100 hour requirement. It's, you know, probably a little less, but it's always good to get more if if you can. Also, there should be a 1-hour supervision meeting with you and your site supervisor on site each week. Uh and also you'll have an hour and a half of uh supervision in your class every week with your practicum class uh and also uh your internship class. So you'll be zooming in to meet with the faculty supervisor and also your um other interns or practice students. Okay. The internship requirements internship typically comes immediately after practicum. So, if you're um if your if your clinical uh and your practicum is in the summer, then uh once you finish your practicum and you uh and you're graded and you get your grade, then you would start your internship that fall. School counseling is a little different. If if you follow the the main trajectory, you will uh uh uh you will take your school practicum the second year uh in your spring semester and then you'll take the summer off because schools are closed. And then uh when school opens back up uh for the in uh in the fall, you'll have your internship one and then your internship two in the spring. Now for internship requirements uh there's 300 hours of experience uh uh in mental health or school setting per semester. So you've gone you've graduated up from 100 hours in your practicum to 300 hours for each semester of internship. Uh of those 300 hours, 120 now has to be direct hours. Um, and so it's, you know, we're we're upping the the the required amount of, uh, clinical direct hours for internship and then 180 of indirect hours. So, typically, uh, you know, to meet the 300 hour requirement, you're going to want to spend about 25 hours a week at your site. Now, some sites are going to want you there more. That's okay. If, uh, that's what you negotiate with with them. That's fine. Uh, however, let's say you finish your hours early. Let's say you finish your hours in early November. Well, that's great, but you still have to attend your internship site and still keep seeing your clients. So, 300 is the minimum, but that's not the stopping point. You keep going until the semester is uh is over. You'll also receive one hour of supervision on site each week from your site supervisor and an hour and a half uh um of supervision in class every week from your uh from your from your uh from your course. Okay. uh admission requirements uh for practicum uh for clinical mental health. These are the uh electives. Uh it says 11 pre prere. It should say 10. I took one out and I forgot to put I forgot to change the number up here. So there's 10 prerequisites. Um introduction, professional counseling, theories of counseling and methods of counseling you all take in your first uh year in the fall semester. uh lawn ethics group counseling and lifespan you take that in your first year in the spring. Multicultural and uh clinical assessment and psychometrics you take your second year in the fall. And then uh diagnostics and counseling and advanced techniques you take in your second year in the spring. And you have to take all of these in order to qualify to uh start your practicum uh that summer. You also need to complete your first residency uh before um uh before you start your practicum. For school counseling, uh there actually should be 12. It says 11. Don't pay any attention to that. There are 12 courses that you need to uh that you need to take. Uh the first three, introduction, professional counseling, theories of school counseling, and methods of counseling also uh school counseling as well. You will take those in your first semester of um in in the fall semester of your first year. Law and ethics, group counseling in schools and lifespan development as well as um principles administration of school counseling. Those are all taken in your first year in the spring semester. Multicultural and uh counseling and school assessment and psychometrics are taken year two in the fall. And then diagnostics and advanced techniques is taken um that's taken in the spring but you are allowed to take these courses co uh uh co-current with your practicum uh that is also in the spring. So these are not necessarily prerequisites. These are co-requisites but you have to take those courses uh in order to to take your school practicum in the spring. Also you need your first residency as well. All right. Uh some of the admission requirements to practicum and and remember this is just gliding over uh what these um uh uh you know what what the actual requirements are because there are more requirements. Uh first off, you have to find a site and you're going to find a site that's near to you. You're not going to have to, you know, you don't have to travel to ulm or anything to find a site around there. This is meant for you to, you know, this is this online program is meant so you don't have to, you know, travel to campus. So, you're going to find a clinical site or a school that's in your area that you're interested in uh interning at. And then you're going to want to go and you're going to want to, you know, see what you see if they even have internship uh opportunities. And if they do, then you start looking uh a little bit deeper to see if they can meet your need. Now, for um you have to have a qualified supervisor. uh the supervisor has to have a minimum of a master's degree in counseling or a related field. So that's uh you know you know a masters in clinical mental health counseling or a masters in clinical social work or marriage and family therapy. Uh they also have to have a profess uh their uh professional license in certifications which means when I say professional license they have to be fully licensed. They can't have their provisional license. They can't be right out of graduate school and um and and you know and have their provisional license and then think that they can supervise you. They don't have enough experience. They need at least right here minimum of two years professional experience in the program area by which the student is enrolled. So they need to go out and get two years of uh professional experience and then become fully licensed and then that starts to put them in the qualification uh range to supervise. Also, if this is school counseling, they don't necessarily need to have an LPC. Uh they can certain uh but they certainly will need their school counseling certification. Uh they also need to demonstrate knowledge of a counseling program's expectations, requirements, and evaluation procedures for clinical experience. This is why I say I recommend somebody with a counseling masters to serve as your as your supervisor because clinical uh social work, marriage and family therapy, and even psychology are great professions, but they have differing expectations for what their practicum and internships look like for their professions. And sometimes I think social workers just try to make it fit and saying, "Well, I know you're a counseling student, but you're I'm going to treat you like a social worker." Or marriage and family therapists say the same thing. It's like, no, that's not what we're about. They have to go along with our requirements and our standards. So, sometimes it's just easier if you find somebody with uh you know that has a counseling uh uh master's degree who's who's licensed as a counselor, then it it's it's just going to save you a lot of uh time and and possible headache. Also, uh the supervisor does need training and counseling supervision. So that's something that you're uh that you want to keep in the back of your mind. What kind of you know did they take a course in supervision? Did they uh attend a bunch of um trainings in supervision? Do they have the special supervision status uh credential that uh that allows them to supervise people for independent lensure? If they have that, then that's great. Uh but if they don't, then they're going to have to figure out how they're going to prove uh you know that they have that training. These are just some of the admission requirements to practicum. These aren't all, but you know, these are these are the the bare bones other needed documents that you're going to need for requirements uh or admission requirements to practicum as you build your application. And you will build your application in Tivera. So, it's all there and you can just upload all of the materials to Tivera and then hit submit and then they'll be evaluated. Uh you will need uh um professional uh uh liability insurance. Uh and you can get that through ACA for free if uh you are an ACA member. Uh you will go through a background check uh because a you know because there are sites that will require that uh site location and address. So you know we're just going to need the basic you know uh basic stuff like that site agreement and orientation acknowledgement. there's a uh there's something that the site supervisor has to sign uh saying they're going to take you on as an intern or a practicum student and they'll be able to fill all of our requirements. Uh we'll also need the site supervisor's uh resume, their proof of lensure, proof of their insurance as well. Uh and then also a memorandum of understanding. Now this is an official contract between ulm and your site. So, if let's say you interview at a site and everything looks good and they can, you know, they they can meet all of our standards and requirements and they want to bring you on and they've made you an offer, then their uh their clinical director or their board superintendent, if it's a school, uh will work with uh Dr. Moon uh and Dr. uh to get our memorandum of understanding signed. uh so that way uh you can legally uh practice as an intern at their site. Now sometimes this can be this can just take a couple of days to do if if they you know if they don't want uh to change anything related to theou other times they don't even want to use ourou they want to use theirs and then it goes back and forth for a while this could potentially getting anou signed could take potentially months and I'm talking three to six months. So, something that you would want to do is make sure that you're um getting, you know, that you know that you're um uh looking for a site soon enough so if you run into this problem that you'll have enough time to uh you know to to get this taken care of. Uh you'll work with Dr. Moon and she also has a GA that's uh designated as her uh PNI assistant that will help get your application completed. uh they can guide you, they can you know they will help you but ultimately this is going to be on you to get the needed documents and make sure that uh all the requirements are met. Okay, some tips for a pract internship. Uh once again, start looking for a site sooner than later. Do not wait till the semester before you start your practicum. You if you're starting the program now, I would say start looking for a site now. And some sites will say, "Well, we're not looking for anyone that that far out." And that's fine, but if you can get in, get an interview, see if they like you, if you like them, then there's a potential, you know, site, you know, for for later on down the road. And maybe get a couple of them like that. So that way you'll have maybe some variety uh and you'll have some backups if uh if it doesn't work out. But always do it sooner than later. Choose a site that will meet your career needs. uh there's various clinical sites uh and there's various schools. Now Dr. Moon has specific uh requirements for the school interns and and practicum students in terms of uh uh what age groups uh in and the schools that she you know that she wants uh expos she wants you to be exposed to. I would consult the handbook for that. Uh for clinical sites there's sites all over the place that you can go. There's you know community mental health hospitals addiction clinics. Um we we do not we're very hesitant and and pretty much we don't I mean in in in I would say most instance in instances do not allow uh uh private practices especially small ones with one or two clinicians that are working uh uh you know in in their own private practice. I if you find a group practice, we'll consider it. But I would tell you stay away from the private practices because those are businesses where they're trying to make money and if if business is slow, that means you're going to be the one paying for that, not them. So, get into community mental health. There's plenty of clients who get plenty of hours, you have great experience there. Um, like I said before, try to have an LPC supervise you for your site supervisor. uh uh this you know some sometimes it's a state lensure requirement. I I that's the way some of the states used to to look at it. I don't know if that's really the the case anymore, but just double check with your uh state lensure board to just ensure that your um your internship supervisor does not have to be an LPC or you have a counseling degree. Um also double check with your state license board for pra internships uh requirements. Like I said before, uh you know, if there are some states that require over and above the 600 hours, you know, they might I think there's one state that requires up to 900 hours. So if if you find that there's a deviation in your state in terms of that they require more than what most uh states do, reach out to Dr. Moon and and we'll work with you. All right. Uh that's the conclusion. Once again, this was just a very brief introduction to practicum and internship. There's a lot more to learn about this, but I at least wanted to get some of the basics down a little sooner than later. All right. Uh, have a good day, everyone.