Practicum and Internship Guidelines

Because practicum and internship enrollment periods are heavily supervised, the faculty must plan ahead to meet student needs. Students must file a statement of their intent to complete the practicum or internship by the middle of the semester prior to the semester in which they wish to begin. Prior to beginning the practicum and internship, students also are required to submit proof of liability insurance and clearances relative to criminal history and child abuse.  Students can purchase liability insurance through student membership in the American Counseling Association (ACA).  FBI fingerprint clearances are also required.  School Counseling Program students are also required to have a TB test prior to beginning their work in the school setting.  Some Marriage, Couple, and Family and Mental Health Counseling students may also be required to have a TB test prior to beginning their field experience if the agency with which they will be working requires the testing

The100-hour-minimum practicum is comprised of 1 ½ hour weekly group supervision sessions which students develop and refine counseling awareness, skills, and techniques and at least 40 hours of direct counseling service to counselees at an arranged practicum site. In addition to this, each practicum student also meets with a faculty supervisor for an additional hour of weekly individual or triadic supervision and one hour each week with their on-site supervisor.

The internship is usually a full-time placement directed by a supervisor on site as well as by a program faculty member who meets with students in a weekly internship group supervision seminar. The internship ordinarily lasts one semester, however it may be split into two semesters if this is deemed necessary.  Some students may not complete the required hours and may need to register for an additional semester to complete the experience.  Internships are offered all semesters. The Marriage, Couple, and Family Internship and the Mental Health Internship are six-credit-600 hours. The Elementary School Counseling Internship and the Secondary School Counseling Internship are each 300 hours for a total of 600 hours.

In order to receive the required weekly faculty supervision, students must be enrolled for at least three internship credits each semester of their internship placement. Therefore, it is important that students carefully discuss and plan this schedule with their faculty and internship supervisors. Only six internship credits (reflecting 600 internship hours) will be counted toward graduation.  Therefore students who do not finish the internship in the allotted amount of time will be charged additional tuition for credits which will not count toward graduation. Additional details of setting up the internship, supervision, course expectations, and requirements are outlined in the various Geneva College MA in Counseling Programs Practicum and Internship Manuals.

Since students enrolled in practicum and internship represent the M.A. in Counseling program and Geneva College both in the classroom and in the community, it is expected that students will conduct themselves in a professional manner. Professional behavior includes but is not limited to being on-time for their practicum or internship, appropriate professional dress, and respect for the clients they will serve, their supervisors, and employees of the site placement. Students are also expected to honor the terms of the practicum or internship contract and to adhere strictly to the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics (2014).

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