Field Education

The program implements an apprenticeship approach to field education. At the core of this approach is the understanding that faculty and supervisors should model a way of being that is therapeutic to the student. Faculty and supervisors attempt to relate to students as they would have students relate to their clients.

A learning atmosphere of trust and safety wherein threat is kept to a minimum and students can become progressively non-defensive in looking at their work with clients is thereby created. It is a way of affirming the counselor as a person with important inner resources and of inviting the counselor to begin to call upon these resources. Both the formative and evaluative components of clinical instruction are carried out in this spirit.

Supervision | Practicum and Internship | Clinical Team

Supervision

Full-time students are expected to have an ongoing counseling caseload over three of the four semesters (for Community Counseling students, a client load of about 5 for practicum and about 10 for internship).

This supervision of the student’s ongoing community counseling work is the primary catalyst for professional and personal growth. Whenever a student is working in a practicum or internship placement they must have one hour of weekly individual site supervision, and 90 minutes of weekly faculty small group supervision. This applies to summer work as well as to work during the normal semesters.

The goal of supervision is to assist individuals as they seek to become knowledgeable and competent practitioners of the counseling profession through the incorporation of a body of knowledge common to the field of counseling theory and practice, the development of specific counseling skills and a way of relating to clients which facilitates personal growth in the client, and the formulation of one's personal philosophy and understanding of counseling.

The focus of the supervision varies with the level of training of the student. For some, the supervisory sessions focus on the acquisition of basic skills; for others, the "growing edge" is an integration of basic skills with theoretical formulations; for some, the task at hand is an understanding of one's role in relationship to clients.

Supervision takes three forms, combining the advantages of three different learning situations: weekly individual supervision, weekly small group supervision (5-6 persons), and case seminars. Based on a dyadic apprenticeship model, individual supervision allows the supervisor to give ongoing attention to the work of the counselor. Individual supervisors require a brief write-up of a case along with a tape recording of a session as the work sample for the weekly supervisory hour.

Group supervision is held on a weekly basis within the classroom setting at EMU and is based on the premise that participants can learn a great deal from one another as well as from the faculty group supervisor. The group strengthens one's ability to conceptualize the client's problems in clear and concise terms and allows for broader based feedback. Presentations of cases to the group facilitate this experience. The major focus in the group is on the counselor's taped session. A case study summary addressing referral information, presenting problem, initial assessment, summary of counseling process to date, prognosis, and spiritual themes if appropriate, is also required.

The faculty group supervisor serves as the clinical director of five to six students, collates reports from individual and school or agency supervisors, and assists in the student's self-evaluation. The faculty group supervisor assists students in selection of sites, visits sites, monitors clinical training of the student, supports and nurtures skill development and personal and professional development, and guides students into Professional Clinical Seminar work.

The following fifteen statements serve as a list of the expectations of supervisors within the counseling program as well as a format for students' evaluation of their supervisors at the end of their practicum and internship experiences.

• Accepts students in a non-judgmental way.
• Enters into the frame of reference of the student.
• Elicits essential data from the student.
• Assesses the strengths of the student.
• Assesses the weaknesses and "growing edges" of the student.
• Affirms the student in relationship to strengths.
• Points out weaknesses and "growing edges" in a professional manner.
• Initiates pertinent discussion in the supervisory sessions.
• Helps students to gain insight into transference-counter-transference issues in the counseling relationship.
• Facilitates an understanding of the psychodynamics of the client.
• Assists the student in dealing with termination and/or referral.
• Has sensitivity to ethical issues in the counselor-client interaction.
• Facilitates reflections of faith as related to the counseling experience.
• Establishes and maintains good inter-professional relations with students.

Practicum and Internship

Students are required to complete a one semester supervised practicum that totals a minimum of 100 clock hours, and a two semester 600 hour internship which is begun only after successful completion of the student's practicum and admission to candidacy. The practicum and internship provide an opportunity to perform, on a limited basis and under supervision, some of the activities that a regularly employed staff member in the setting would be expected to perform. A regularly employed staff member is defined as a person occupying the professional role to which the student is aspiring. In the Community Counseling track, care is taken to ensure that each student is supervised by a licensed clinician in either individual (on-site) or group (campus) supervision.

Students are required to obtain professional liability insurance prior to practicum or internship work. Forms are provided in the handbook. The insurance provider prefers an on-line application at www.hpso.com.

The student’s practicum and internship:

• Involves 100 total hours for practicum and 600 total hours for internship. Practicum requires 10 hours of group work.
• Includes a minimum of 40 hours of direct service work (over fifteen weeks) for the practicum, and a minimum of 240 hours (over 30 weeks) of direct service work for the internship. For Community Counseling students, direct service work includes: individual, marital and family counseling, intakes, crisis intervention, group counseling, and assessment.
• Allows the student to gain supervised experience in individual and group interactions with clientele appropriate to their program track.
• Includes a minimum of one and one-half (1 1/2) hours per week of group supervision with other students in similar practica or internships by a faculty member supervisor.
• Allows the student to obtain audiotapes and videotapes of the student's interactions with clientele for use in supervision.
• Allows the student to gain supervised experience in the use of a variety of professional resources such as appraisal instruments, computers, print and non-print media, professional literature, and research.
• Includes formal evaluation of the student's performance during the practicum and internship by the individual site supervisor and the faculty group supervisor.

Placement

The practicum and internship placements span the range of counseling settings within the community, and thus provide opportunities for students to counsel clients representative of diversity of persons who utilize counseling services in the community. Students are expected to utilize different sites for practicum and internship in order to expand their personal range of experience in diverse settings and with diverse clientele.

Faculty and Site Supervisor Collaboration

The faculty group supervisor and individual site supervisor will develop a collaborative connection for the purpose of partnering in the education of the student counselor. Regular connections will be established for one semester with practicum supervisors and two semesters for intern supervisors. The faculty will be a resource to the individual site supervisor. However, the individual site supervisor is expected to maintain all other forms of supervision, staffing and case review available to them within or beyond their school or agency. For clarification and the benefit of the student's experience within the school or agency, the faculty group supervisor will review with the individual site supervisor their respective roles, goals of supervision, and objectives of the program.

Individual Site Supervisor Qualifications:

• Have a minimum of a Master's Degree in the program emphasis area and possess appropriate certifications and/or licenses.
• Have a minimum of two years of pertinent professional experience.
• Have been apprised of the program's expectations, requirements, and evaluation procedures for student in practicum and/or internship.

Expectations of the Agency and Individual Site Supervisor:

• To provide a complete orientation to the staff, facility, rules, regulations and procedures of the school or agency. Specific questions related to the school or agency's organizational structure will need to be clarified for the student: What are the rules regarding the use of rooms for counseling and administrative purposes? Will office space be shared? How will this be worked out? What days and hours will the student be expected to be at the school or agency? What are the procedures regarding clients' files and records? What staff meetings, case conferences, etc., will the student be eligible to attend? The student also needs to be apprised of the purpose and ethos of the school or agency. Who are the clients whom the school or agency serves? What services does the school or agency offer?
• To see that the student has a client load commensurate with the requirements for Practicum/Internship experiences (a minimum of five clients during the practicum; five to ten clients during the internship). It is hoped that all students will gain experience in crisis, short-term and long-term counseling. School counseling students should gain experience in activities specific to that role including classroom guidance, consultations, referrals, working with the other school personnel, etc. If there is a difficulty in providing the stipulated number of clients, either because the school or agency client load is light or the supervisor feels the student isn't ready, the faculty group supervisor should be notified.
• To review tapes, other related materials, intake processes, documentation, and participating activities of the counseling student (i.e. staffing meetings).
• To provide an hour of clinical supervision weekly at a set time and on a set day. (Fifteen hours of individual supervision are expected each semester.) It is very important that the supervisory hour is uninterrupted quality time. Supervisors are to give both positive and negative feedback to students, identifying areas of strength, and areas for focus and growth in future supervisory sessions.
• To "sign off" for the student in full acknowledgment of the supervisor role. Students are required to carry their own student professional liability insurance.
• To write an evaluation at the end of each semester and complete the Practicum or Internship Performance Evaluation Form, summarize the feedback from the semester, and share this evaluation with the student prior to sending all materials to the faculty group supervisor.

Expectations of the Student:

• Completion of all Field Education Placement pre-requisites and forms – see Community Counseling or School Counseling sections of the handbook.
• To be aware of the necessity of representing the school or agency to the community in a responsible and knowledgeable manner.
• To be involved approximately 5-10 hours per week for the practicum experience (over a 15 week semester; 100 documented hours required), and 10 - 20 hours per week for the internship experience (over 30 weeks; 600 documented hours required). The scheduling of the clinical hours is to be negotiated between the student and the school or agency. For Community Counseling and Community Counseling /Pastoral Counseling students this involvement should include: direct clinical services such as individual counseling, marriage counseling, group or family counseling, individual and group supervision, staff meetings, case conferences, intake staffings, administrative responsibilities such as completing records, making process notes, etc., and other educational classes and experiences.
• To be punctual, responsible, and professional at all times. Since the admission process to the master's program is selective, and only students of the highest quality, maturity and motivation are accepted, it can be expected that student- agency relationships will function on a high professional level at all times. If transportation problems occur or there is illness, students will be expected to notify the school or agency as promptly as possible. Students are to be punctual in arriving at their agencies, allowing some extra time for emergencies. Sensitivity to the dress and deportment standards of the school or agency is necessary as well. It is expected that the ethical conduct of students will be of the highest caliber. Clients should not be discussed casually or at inappropriate times. Confidential records are to be handled with great care and the privacy of the client is to be carefully protected.
• To meet with the individual site supervisor for individual supervision one hour each week (for 15 weeks each semester). This is to be at a set time and on a set day. All required preparations and written work are to be completed weekly, according to each supervisor's specifications. Students will be expected to present tapes of counseling sessions at most supervisory sessions in order that specific feedback can be given. Students are encouraged to let their supervisors know what kinds of feedback will be most helpful to them. Supervision is a dual process involving both supervisors and students.
• To write a self-evaluation at the end of each semester, for the purpose of identifying strengths and areas of limitation. Copies of the student's self-evaluation should be shared with the individual site supervisors and given to the faculty group supervisor.
• To evaluate the individual site supervision at the end of each school year according to the specified form. This evaluation is kept confidential by the faculty.

Clinical Team

The Clinical Team, consisting of the full time faculty, the program administrator, and the administrative assistant, regularly reviews the clinical growth of each student in practicum and internship. The team meets regularly to conduct a summary review of each student and a more in-depth review of particular students as needed.

This team approach relies on the student’s faculty clinical group supervisor to provide the specifics of the student’s growth as a counselor and to implement the decisions of the clinical team directly with the student. The faculty group supervisor is responsible to facilitate reviews of their students at each Clinical Team meeting. The review centers on counselor identity and student awareness of growth areas, evaluation of clinical site, and help in giving proper supervision, and movement toward candidacy for practicum students or Professional Clinical Seminar presentation for internship students.

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