Counseling Center

Training Activities

As is evident by the extensive list of training activities provided, we are committed to building upon the skills and abilities of the interns through a multitude of training opportunities. Each of the activities is considered to be an integral component of a well-trained psychologist’s repertoire of skills, abilities, and experiences.

Intern Orientation
A comprehensive, structured two to three week orientation to the internship begins the first day of the internship. Interns are provided with information on all facets of the training program including administrative details, service activities, training activities, and referral sources. The orientation program is coordinated by the Training Director and developed with input from the Training Committee.

Individual Supervision
Each intern spends a minimum of two hours per week in one-to-one supervision with a licensed psychologist. The Training Director makes the supervisory assignments with input from both the professional staff and interns. Interests and experience of staff members and interns are taken into consideration in making these assignments. The supervisory assignments are made at the beginning of the internship following introductions between staff and interns. The initial supervisory relationship concludes at the end of the Fall semester and new assignments begin in January. Supervision focuses on the intern’s professional and personal growth as a therapist, case conceptualization, skill development, and case management. Each intern completes a self assessment of their clinical skills at the beginning of the internship year and the supervisor is provided with this information to assist in targeting specific training needs and developmental level.

Intern Training Seminar/Client Consultation
This weekly 2 hour seminar introduces the interns to various topics including facilitating group therapy, conducting brief therapy, and psychiatric topics. In the Spring semester, additional topics are determined in consultation with the interns regarding interest and training needs. Some of the topics that have been covered previously include: trauma/PTSD, grief and crisis post-vention, eating disorders, couples therapy, evidenced based practices, and substance use/abuse/ACOA issues. Three times per semester each intern presents a client consultation, receiving feedback from peers and staff.

Consultation and Community Intervention    
The consultation and community intervention training component assists interns in being able to consult with the campus community about mental health concerns and in being able to provide psycho-educational programs and training to campus constituents. The seminar focuses on developing the interns’ presentation skills and awareness of audience learning styles. Also, the interns become familiar with consultation models.

Assessment Seminar/Supervision
The assessment training component addresses a variety of psychological assessments. Interns have an opportunity to use psychological assessments with their on-going clients. This experience enhances an intern’s use of assessments as tools to complement clinical work.

Group Therapy/Supervision
Group work is a valuable facet of our clinical services. For many clients, this is the most relevant and effective treatment modality. Therefore, interns are usually paired with a senior staff psychologist to co-lead a group in the fall and with a graduate assistant in the spring. Groups may be related to various topics, needs, and student populations.

Diversity Seminar
The diversity seminar provides opportunities for readings, experiential activities, client discussion and consultation regarding diverse clients. Diversity awareness, training experiences, and opportunities are also integrated throughout our internship program. In addition, because a major component of cultural competency is self-awareness, interns have opportunities to focus on their own internal development related to diversity issues.

Crisis Intervention Seminar
The Counseling Center provides crisis intervention and post-vention services during business hours and, in the event of campus tragedies, these services may be provided outside of regular business hours. “On-call” clinical staff members typically handle all emergencies during their specified coverage times. The on-call counselors respond to both telephone and in-person requests for emergency services from students or university staff members.

At the beginning of the internship year, interns are trained during the crisis seminar to respond to crisis situations. Initially interns shadow a staff member during on-call coverage. However, this transitions into the intern providing on-call coverage with supervision.

Supervision Seminar/Supervision
Each intern provides secondary supervision to a Clinical Psychology doctoral student. Prior to providing supervision, this seminar prepares interns for their supervisory role. While interns are supervising, they meet 2 hours a week with two licensed psychologists for group supervision of their supervision.

Scholarly Activity/Scholarly Project
Interns are expected to engage in scholarly project/research and present the findings to the clinical staff.  Interns are given the opportunity to select the project in consultation with the Training Director and/or the Associate Director. The project/activity is decided prior to the conclusion of the Fall semester. Interns may choose to work alone or as a team to complete the project. Possible projects include:

• Involvement in a research project regarding clinical services, counseling center policy, etc.
• Development of a needs assessment and proposal for addressing either campus or counseling center needs and a proposal for action

Each intern is also expected to provide a presentation about their dissertation research or about another area of interest to the entire staff in preparation for job interviews.

Client Presentation
Interns are expected to present a sample of their clinical work that is informed by current research regarding the treating modality, client population, and clinical practice. This presentation will be given to the entire staff during the spring semester as preparation for job interviews.

Peer Consultation
Each week, the intern will meet in peer consultation groups consisting of one to two interns and several senior staff for the purposes of group supervision. This meeting is used for staff client consultation and review/approval of treatment plans (extensions, long-term reviews).

Professional Development
Several times during each semester, the entire professional staff and occasionally the support staff will meet for professional development. The topics may be related to clinical issues, university policies and procedures, national and international issues, etc. The topics for professional development are generated through staff surveys and recommendations from staff members, including the intern cohort.

Staff/Committee Meetings
Interns will participate in regular staff meetings, with the exception of Leadership Team meetings and/or those that involve discussions of intern performance. These meetings will cover topics such as Counseling Center policies and procedures, relevant clinical issues, accreditation issues, and the general business of the center. In addition, interns will have an opportunity to serve on one or more of the Counseling Center’s committees.

Meetings with Training Director
The Training Director will meet bi-weekly with the interns to assess how the internship training is meeting the interns’ needs and to solicit feedback about the training program.