Practicum

Practicum is a critical component of PSU’s Counselor Education Program. During their practicum tenure, students are able to receive direct, one-on-one supervision while working with clients in PSU’s Community Counseling Clinic (link to page), which offers low cost counseling to the public. This provides students with an intensive, experiential training before they begin their internship work at an outside agency.

Students are enrolled in practicum for two consecutive quarters beginning either summer (full-time) or winter term (part-time). Students follow the practicum experience by providing two more consecutive quarters of non-credit intern student supervision to the incoming practicum students.

Application process:

• Students must apply for Practicum spring quarter of the year they will begin and indicate their intent to start practicum during the summer or fall terms.

• Assignments to the practicum sections, to fulfill the non-credit Intern Supervising Service requirement, are also done at this time. Therefore when selecting a practicum section, keep in mind that you will be committed to that section for a total of 4 terms.
  

• You will receive e-mail notice & the Application Packet during spring quarter to be returned to Sue Halverson by due date stated in notice.

Practicum Prerequisites:

1. Prerequisite coursework (Please check current practicum application packet for updated prerequisites.)

• You must be able to document completion of the following courses before Practicum enrollment is guaranteed. Remember all Incompletes (“I”s) in Practicum prerequisites must be removed prior to enrollment in Practicum. Concurrent enrollment in COUN 543 Interpersonal Relations II is mandatory with Counseling 509 Practicum. An “I” in this course will result in withdrawal from COUN 509 Practicum: Counseling.

COUN 509 Practicum: Group

COUN 510 Abnormal Personalities

COUN 541 Introduction to Counseling

COUN 543 Interpersonal Relations II

COUN 551 Theories and Interventions I

COUN 552 Theories and Interventions II

COUN 566 Appraisal Instruments

COUN 567 Using Tests in Counseling

COUN 569 Developmental Foundations of Counseling

COUN 571 Group Counseling

COUN 585 Diagnosis and Treatment Planning I

• If you plan to counsel families or couples for your MFT license, you should have completed six (6) credits in Couples, Marriage, and Family course work prior to Practicum.

2. Personal Counseling & ETC Requirement

• Before the beginning of the practicum sequence, students must complete 10 hours of individual counseling, as well as 10 hours of the Experiential Training Clinic (ETC) experience (Please find information about ETC on the Orientation/ First Term page). Documentation of this experience is required at the time of the first meeting of fall Practicum.

• Signed documentation of individual counseling sessions must be submitted by 1^st day of practicum, on providing counselor’s letterhead.

• Students are encouraged to join the American Counseling Association (ACA) and/or other professional counseling organizations such as the Oregon Counseling Association (ORCA), The American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA), The American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT), or The National Rehabilitation Association (NRA) prior to beginning practicum. One of the benefits of joining these organizations as students is that many offer the lowest student rates on professional liability insurance.

• Each student must hold professional liability insurance in effect prior to, and during, fall quarter enrollment in Practicum and in Internship.

• School Counselors who have OEA/NEA insurance need to seek clarification of coverage for work in the clinic at PSU.