Practicum & Internships

Counseling Practicum and Internship Experiences

Before completing you’re master’s degree in counseling, one semester of practicum followed by a one semester in internship must be completed.  The practicum builds upon the skills learned in the core courses and allows application of these skills through counseling people in a school or community agency on a part-time basis, whereas internship requires full-time work in the selected setting.

Nature of the Field Activity

Students will work in a professional capacity for the first time in this program and, therefore, must be aware of the professional expectations of counselors within the particular office where you are doing your practicum.  The first programmatic as well as professional responsibility is to purchase professional insurance that will cover practice during practicum and internship.  THIS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR PRACTICUM.   Not doing so is to proceed to work as a member of the profession without being aware of the possible unanticipated implications of doing so.  It is critical that students submit documentation of this insurance with a completed practicum/internship contract to Heather Johnson, the Admissions & Program Assistant, AND you’re the course instructor during the first class meeting in the fall. Both the contract and the verification of professional insurance should also be included in individual students’ professional dossiers.  The best strategy for identifying options for professional insurance is through membership in one of the professional counseling organizations.  MSU will not provide liability insurance for individual students.

Practicum and Internship allow students the opportunity to practice in a setting of preference.  The following are a few critical questions that you must consider in site selection and which you must reassess after placement.  What are their basic expectations?  What are the rules and regulations within this office?  Do the site expectations meet the program expectations for training and service delivery?  Does the site provide a private space for counseling and the confidential filing of case notes?  What hours are you expected to be in the office?  Will I be able to acquire the necessary number of direct contact hours required to fulfill course requirements?  What type of clothing is the preferred ‘uniform’ of counseling staff?

Practicum allows an opportunity to acquire “hands-on” experience.  Students will learn how to:  initiate contact with prospective clients; determine whether or not these clients can appropriately be counseled within your office; determine ways in which they might be helped; and appropriately maintain records and procedures used in keeping track of client information.

While in the practicum and internship setting students are expected to adhere to the customs, regulations, and practices of that setting as regularly employed counselors in compliance with the standards of ethical/legal practice.  Opportunities to observe staff members’ counseling skills as well as opportunities for  practice a wide variety of activities that are part of a counseling setting are experiences most desired in training sites.  Experiences in assessment and in working with groups are strongly recommended.

In addition, each student must attend a weekly 3-hour class (CEP 894C and CEP 893C) for small group supervision and a one-hour weekly meeting for individual supervision by a program supervisor.  (These contacts are in addition to the ongoing individual supervision that each student must receive from an onsite supervisor.) The completion of weekly assignments and active participation in these supervision experiences are required.  Each student must document all professional activities for course completion and to maintain records in preparation for application for licensure.  This documentation will be in the form of a professional portfolio/dossier that will include their counseling competence evaluations by onsite, individual, and small group supervisors.

Practicum in Counseling

Before receiving a master’s degree in counseling, students must complete a 100-hour counseling practicum.

Nature of the Practicum

Over the Fall semester, a practicum student is expected to spend a minimum of 100 hours on-site, 50 of which must be direct contact hours.  Direct contact hours include face to face interventions with clients, client advocacy, professional consultation with senior members of the profession (not including program small group and individual supervision), outreach activities, facilitation of in-service training, and clients’ parental/guardian contact.  At least 50% of direct contact hours must include individual counseling with clients.  During practicum, all group service delivery experiences must occur in the presence of a licensed co-facilitator.

The other 50 hours can include activities such as on-site individual supervision, record-keeping, professional development, on-site peer consultation, and session preparation (not including small group and individual supervision provided by program representatives).  Time allocated to developing transcripts for the purpose of fulfilling practicum requirements cannot be counted toward these 50 hours.

Internship in Counseling

Before receiving a master’s degree in counseling, students must complete a 600-hour counseling internship. 

Nature of the Practicum

Students must complete a total of 600-clock hours of internship, which will be done on a full-time basis over the 15-week spring semester.  Of the 600 clock hours, a minimum of 240 hours must include activities that fit the category of direct contact hours described in the above section. At least 50% of these hours must include individual counseling.  The remainder of you’re the 600 hours must include all other site-based professional activities (see above examples identified in Practicum section).  Students who choose both school and community counseling specializations must enroll in 2 semesters of internship.

Special Note:   As soon as practicum students are able to document that the assigned site will not provide the necessary experiences for passing practicum or do not adhere to the criteria required by the program, immediate notification of the instructor and identification of an alternative site that will allow opportunities to show competence are imperative.  In the event that students are unable to complete all written and/or hourly requirements for practicum because of this reason, course instructors will assign a deferred (D) or an incomplete grade (I).  In either case, such students will be ineligible to enroll for more than 6 credit hours of internship the following Spring semester.  Successful completion of practicum is a prerequisite for full-time enrollment in internship.  Failure to complete all requirements for practicum during the fall semester will automatically require students to complete at least three additional internship credits during the first session of the following summer term for a total of twelve internship credits.  Just as  in the case of practicum, enrollment in internship is not guaranteed and students may fail practicum because of failure to exhibit a required level of counseling competency and professionalism.