Students attend an orientation for Practicum and Internship approximately 7 - 9 months prior to their scheduled field experience.  This orientation covers all requirements of practicum/internship, such as qualifying hours and activities, supervisor credentials, types of sites, etc.  Students are also provided guidance and resources for securing a site placement.  

After the orientation, students contact sites who have previously hosted Grace students, or pursue new sites that match their interests.  Once a site has indicated interest and desire to host the student, the student will complete the Practicum/Internship Checklist with the site supervisor and submit it, along with the Practicum Application, to Grace's Clinical Coordinator for approval.  

If the site has its own affiliation agreement, it should be submitted at this time as well. 

Once the Coordinator approves the site, the student will complete the Practicum/Internship Site Agreement with the Site Supervisor and submit within 2 weeks.  (The student will attach a copy of the verification of the supervisor's credentials from the state's website.)

So what does this timeline look like? 

For field experiences beginning in Fall semester (Practicum or Internship): 

1. Orientation: Late October (the year prior)

2. Site Application due early March

3. Site Agreement due  2 weeks after the Site approval 

4. Any remaining paperwork or affiliation agreement should be finalized no later than May 1.  

For field experience beginning in Spring semester (Practicum Only): 

1. Orientation: Late May 

2. Site Application due early October

3. Site Agreement due 2 weeks after the Site approval 

4. Any remaining paperwork or affiliation agreement should be finalized no later than December 1.  

Supervisors must have the time and interest to provide and model a positive supervision alliance, being engaged and available to the student.  In some ways, the supervision relationship is like a mentoring relationship.  As such, it is expected that the supervisor is a regular part of observing the student's clinical work and providing guidance.  Similar to clients, the supervisor also honors the student's right to confidentiality within the practice. 

Supervision involves examination of student work using video tapes, observation, and/or live supervision.  The supervisor provides honest, on-going, specific feedback to the student regarding counseling skills, approach, and methods.  Evaluations accurately assess student competencies and are to be processed with the student to ensure understanding and establishment of a plan for further development.  Documented and specific behavioral observations are encouraged.  Areas of deficiency should be addressed as soon as evident to allow for remediation, if possible.  The supervisor should also consult with the faculty supervisor about remediation needs.

Please watch our brief supervisor training and review the Practicum or Intership Site Agreement for more details.  

The following activities are do not count toward practicum or internship hours: 

• case management 

• behavioral modification

• milieu therapy

• teaching on topics not related to counseling

• psychoeducation, skills, or curriculum-based classes/groups

• facilitating groups that are not related to  counseling (e.g. 12 step groups, Life Skills groups)

• interacting with individuals or groups who have not signed the Grace College Client Information and Consent form

• marketing

• office administrative tasks

• any other activity that is not directly related to counseling  

• clinical work with clients with severe mental illness (such as active psychosis, hallucinations, and delusions): direct hours should take place with clients who are able to benefit from talk/insight-oriented therapy.   

• Advanced techniques (e.g., EMDR, Neurofeedback, Brainspotting, etc.) have not been approved by the program for practicum and internship due to the need to develop foundational competencies, skills, and techniques prior to integrating these modalities.  However, we support the student being exposed to these in their field experiences through observing the supervisor's sessions.  

In addition, practicum/internship sites should be familiar with standards for field placements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.   

Session recordings are required for both the practicum and internship experiences.  These videos are used by site and faculty supervisors to provide feedback and evaluate skills. 

The student should also use the videos to engage in deliberate practice and to prepare for supervision by identifying part of sessions that went well and areas s/he would like assistance.  The videos are especially helpful if the student has a client in crisis and the supervisor wants to revisit what was said/done to appropriately plan for follow-up care.   

Research: Supervision Best Practices

Research shows that direct observation of client sessions and review with the student is a best practice in supervision (ACES, 2011). Simply due to their inexperience, supervisees "find it difficult to comprehend the problems of their clients.  Because they do not observe trainees, supervisors find it difficult to correct their errors...[and supervisees] struggle with what they do not understand (Bernard & Goodyear, 2009, p. 221)." Supervisee self-report is only as good as the observational and conceptual abilities of the supervisee.  Other challenges are recall/memory accuracy, underreporting of significant issues in session, and pressure felt by the supervisee to distort (rather than report) his or her work, whether intentional or not (Bernard & Goodyear, 2009).  

Effective use of session recordings in supervision facilitates changes in supervisee self-perception, enhances self-analysis by supervisees, and helps supervisors more accurately appraise supervisees and their true readiness for the job at hand (Haggerty & Hilsenroth, 2011; Bernard & Goodyear, 2009).  

HIPAA & Security

Video-recording sessions is an ethical and HIPAA - compliant practice if students gain client consent and properly store the videos.  Students are required to use the Grace College 'Consent for Session Recording' form; signed copies are kept in the agency's client file. Students upload the session recordings to the college's secure learning management system via Kaltura.  Kaltura is encrypted during streaming (upload and viewing).  The individual file is not encrypted when at rest, but is held in an encrypted storage.  While Kaltura files are to be deleted periodically (dependent on the course), the recording of student sessions provides a  'record' of clinical skill demonstration and will be retained until student graduation (or withdrawal from the program).  This website addresses Kaltura's security certifications. 

References: 

• Association of Counselor Education & Supervision (2011). Best Practices in Clinical Supervision.

• Bernard, J.M. & Goodyear, R.K. (2009).  Fundamentals of clinical supervision. Pearson Education.  

• Haggerty, G. & Hilsenroth, M.J. (2011). The use of video in psychotherapy supervision. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 27(2), 193-210.  http://dx.doi.org.heinz.grace.edu/10.1111/j.1752-0118.2011.01232.x 

A clinician with an unrestricted license should always be on-site with the student.  Generally, this is expected to be the approved supervisor.  If the supervisor is just headed out for lunch or an errand, then another fully licensed clinician simply should be on-site and aware they are the student's back-up in the supervisor's absence.

If the approved supervisor is away frequently, then perhaps a secondary supervisor who has interest and willingness to be student support in the primary supervisor's absence can be identified. 

The primary supervisor provides the weekly 1 hour supervision and evaluations.  The secondary supervisor would also complete evaluations at midterm/end of semester.  Both supervisors would complete the final site agreement.  

For completing direct hours, Practicum students are able to work with clients ages 11 and older; however, they are able to observe or do co-therapy (as indirect hours) to gain exposure in working with younger children.  

Internship students are able to work with any age group, including children.  However, the assignments and competencies evaluated in internship are more associated with traditional talk therapy.  Interns are encouraged to place a greater focus on work with adolescents and adults in order to sufficiently develop these skills.  Interns typically take the Child & Adolescent class during the second semester of Internship.  

The internship (fall and spring semesters) is expected to be a distinctly different experience from Practicum.  Typically, this is experience with different clients, clinical issues/diagnoses, demographics, supervisors, etc.  Occasionally a site is large enough that students are able to be in a different department or location that enables a distinctly different experience.  

However, Internship sites are not approved until the Spring prior to Internship.  Approval is also contingent on the student having a positive experience in practicum, gaining the necessary skills and experiences, appropriate supervision, sufficient client load to meet requirements, and practicum faculty supervisor approval.   

As a program, we want our student to gain broad clinical experiences with not only socio-economic/education/cultures/etc. but even how the mental health issues and advocacy needs present differently among these groups. Community mental health is also vastly different from outpatient work, private practice, or non-profit organizations.   Even different supervisors provide a unique perspectives.

We also encourage our students to consider their personal goals after graduation and whether a setting different from their practicum is needed to move toward those goals.

Yes, students are able to work in home-based services; however, a clinician holding a terminal, unrestricted license must be with the student at all times. The site is also required to provide training on the specific considerations and risks inherent in home-based counseling. 

Visit our Becoming a Site page and complete the application.   

You can also contact our clinical coordinator.