Counseling Internship – COUC 699

Course Description

This course involves an intensely supervised experience in the student’s designated program area at an approved site. Students are required to complete a total of 600 clock hours of counseling and related services, 240 of which are direct client contact hours. While gaining direct service experience with clients, students regularly meet with an approved supervisor. Student counseling performance is evaluated throughout the internship. Written and oral presentations are a basic part of the group supervisory process with a Liberty faculty member via technology. The student’s professional development along with the dynamics of the counseling relationship, diagnosis, treatment, and legal/ethical issues are primary areas of focus.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

This Counseling Internship course involves participation in a planned clinical experience in an approved agency or other setting under an approved supervisor. The internship is the culminating experience of the MA licensure programs. The purpose of the Counseling Internship is to provide a supervised, field-based, work experience that allows students to:

• Further continue to integrate and synthesize counseling theories and techniques
• Develop more fully the personal qualities, characteristics, and behavior of a professional counselor;
• Develop more advanced clinical reasoning and conceptualization skills.

Method of Instruction: This course is delivered using synchronous technology. Students attend 1.5 hours of weekly group supervision delivered via WebEx over the entire duration of this 16-week course.

Course Assignment

Complete 600 total hours of a supervised clinical training experience, with at least 240 hours required for direct client service; 1 hour per week required for individual supervision (IS); 1.5 hours per week required for group supervision (GS) and all other hours counted as Related Activities (RA). (L.O.: A-G)

1. Individual Supervision is a time for students to meet and go over clients directly with their supervisor and only their approved supervisor.
2. Faculty group supervision is a time for students to attend a 1.5 hour required weekly face-to-face (via the internet program WebEx) supervision session with the faculty supervisor. Attendance is mandatory. Day and time TBA. Students are allowed a maximum of 2 absences during the semester.
3. Related Activities can be office work, telephone calls to clients, writing progress notes, and billing insurance companies. (L.O.: A-G).
4. Note: Individual Supervision must be provided by their approved supervisor. Group supervision include both faculty supervision and group supervision with their approved supervisor and other colleagues at their site discussing clients. (L.O.: A-G).

Students will keep track of their hours each week using the Tevera/LiveText Time Log and Summary of Hours Spreadsheet. If students do not finish the required hours, students must seek approval to register (and pay) for an additional semester of the course. Students may register for the course for up to three semesters.

Pass one Midterm Counselor Competencies Scale and one Final Counselor Competencies Scale. (ASSESSMENT BENCHMARK)

The approved supervisor will complete a Midterm Evaluation and a Final Evaluation in Tevera/LiveText. Faculty Supervisors will also complete a Counselor Competencies Scale in Tevera/LiveText. Students who do not receive passing evaluations during the course will work with the supervisor(s) and Liberty University internship faculty to develop a plan to correct any deficits.  An “NP” in the practicum/internship due to unethical or improper behavior at a site results in expulsion from the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies. (See Calendar tab in Blackboard for due dates).

Pass two open book/note quizzes

The purpose of the quizzes is to test the student’s knowledge of the Internship Manual and the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. The exams are multiple-choice, true-false, open-book, timed exams.

Case Presentations (ASSESSMENT BENCHMARK)

Students will participate in Faculty Group Supervision via WebEx with Faculty Supervisor. Each student will complete two approximately 35 minute (with 10-15 minutes for discussion including time for questions, treatment plan, & diagnosis discussion) case presentations during (class time) group supervision. These case presentations will include a treatment plan, an ethics section, and a multi-cultural section. See the appendix for detailed instructions.

Complete Course Requirements checklist located in Week 1 Module

Complete State Requirement checklist

Complete Student Evaluation of Site and Supervisor Form

Submit Copy of liability insurance at the beginning and end of the semester

Complete at least two taped counseling sessions with verbatim transcriptions

This will involve getting informed consent from your site and client, recording and submitting a session to the professor, and transcribing and analyzing a 6-8 minute portion of the session. The transcription form is available via the blackboard courseroom.

For the purposes of faculty supervision and site supervision interns must record two counseling  sessions to submit to site supervisors and two counseling sessions to be presented during WebEx Faculty Group Supervision.

The session due dates correspond with the student presentation date. The session is due the week of the students’ case presentation (see the case presentation schedule/course chart for exact dates; the schedule will be in alphabetical order). Students will also submit a verbatim form with a six to eight minute segment of the recorded session and an Informed Consent Confirmation form verifying that they have provided an Informed consent to the client and site.

*Students with a site that does not allow either video or audio taping of clients will need to work with supervisor(s) to complete Live Observations of client sessions and tapings of role-play sessions. Instructions for these can be found with the taped sessions instructions and documents in the Syllabus and Blackboard Classroom.

Peer Consultation

The peer consultation may be accomplished by having 2 or 3 students set up a WebEx meeting, with one student being the host and inviting two other students. Peer Consultation is 90 minutes and should be divided equally amongst you and your classmates to share about a client(s) and your experience. Your Faculty Supervisor does not need to be present. Your Faculty Supervisor may change the date of the peer review to coincide with other things that they have planned. This time will be counted as Related Hours when adding it to the Time Log and Spreadsheet in Tevera/LiveText.

Caution: Do not include your site’s information, nor identifying information about your clients during this time. You may meet via WebEx or telephone.

Jungers & Scott Textbook Quizzes

The quizzes will cover the Jungers & Scott, et al. textbook. The student will have 30 minutes to choose the correct answer for 5 multiple-choice questions.

Thomas Reading Quizzes

The quizzes will cover the Thomas, et al. textbook. The student will have 30 minutes to choose the correct answer for 5 multiple- choice questions.