EPSY 6398 – Internship in Counseling


Syllabus for EPSY 6398 Internship in Counseling

 

Instructors:

Robert Brammer, Ph.D.	School Counseling Faculty	Terry Hargrve, Ph.D.
Office: OM 215b	Office: OM 215c	Office: OM 215a
Office Phone: 651‑3621 Email: rbrammer@mail.wtamu.edu	Office Phone: 651‑3622	Office Phone: 651‑3620 Email: thargrave@mail.wtamu.edu

   

Prerequisite:  The Internship/School Practicum should be taken near the end of your program.  You should lack no more than 6 hours of coursework, not included practicum.  You must have been formally admitted into the counseling program prior to taking the practicum.

Purpose: The Internship course in the Counselor Education program is designed to monitor students’ experience working with clients in clinical and school settings that are not associated with WTAMU.  Issues addressed will be continued development of clinical skills, administrative issues, relationship with co-workers, and the transition from student to practitioner.

 
Functions of Internship/School Practicum Counselors:

Internship/School Practicum students should participate in and experience as many of the following functions as is appropriate or feasible at the school or agency selected as an Internship setting.
School Counselors:

Student/Clients

·           Academic planning

·           Vocational/occupational counseling

·           Family/peer relationships

·           Provide classroom guidance activities

·           Individual/group counseling

Supervisors - teachers, school administration, agency administration, agency supervisors

·           Student achievement/ client progress

·           Student behavior (social)/ client progress

·           Student/client home & family environment

Parents/Client's Family

·           Appraisal in the areas of academic, social, home & family, personal, vocational/occupational, etc.  This includes recommendations.

Other agency contact

·           Act as a resource person to provide information & referral when deemed appropriate & necessary for medical, mental health, Department of Human Resources
Professional Counselors

Research, Evaluation, & Record Keeping

·           Staff in-service & evaluation

·           Other research as relevant

·           Vocational/occupational counseling

·           Maintaining adequate notes on client intakes, counseling sessions, treatment plans, and termination.

Clients

·           Individual/group counseling

·           Psychological Assessment

·           Vocational/occupational counseling

·           Family/peer relationships

Other agency contact

·           Act as a resource person for interdisciplinary teams.  Provide information & referral when deemed appropriate or necessary.

 
The duties of a counselor trainee

The duties of a counselor trainee should be assigned in such a way as to utilize his/her unique training to benefit the school or agency to the greatest advantage.  The student's role is one that would have great similarity to being an employee.  This will include evaluation by the supervisors involved pertaining to grade, interpersonal interactions, structured work hours, keeping appointments, punctuality, personal grooming, coffee breaks, etc.

Students should keep in mind that they are at a particular placement with school/agency permission.

 

Course Objectives:  The student will be able to

·           Verbalize his/her theory of counseling.

·           Analyze & criticize a counseling interview based on his/her theory of counseling.

·           Demonstrate the ability to conceptualize the case & plan a given course of action.

·           Demonstrate the ability to participate in the counseling process.

·           Demonstrate the ability to coordinate & consult with teachers, supervisors, administrators, family, & other agencies involved.

·           Discuss appropriate referral sources in the community.

·           Demonstrate & discuss the use of progress notes and termination reports.

·           Discuss the legal & ethical issues in counseling.

·           Discuss current problems, issues & trends in counseling.

 
Course Requirements

·           School Counseling (EPSY 6399): students earning three hours in a semester, 150 clock hours (of which, 50 must be direct counseling hours). Students earning six hours in a semester must complete 300 clock hours (of which, 100 must be direct counseling hours).

·           Professional Counseling (EPSY 6398): students earning three hours in a semester, 300 clock hours (of which, 100 must be direct counseling hours). Students earning six hours in a semester must complete 600 clock hours (of which, 200 must be direct counseling hours).  If you fail to complete the required hours you will be given an incomplete for the semester.  You will have one year from the end of the course to submit all the required paperwork for the class.  During the time you are working on your hours, you must continue attending weekly supervision at WT.  For example, if you took Internship or Practicum over the summer and did not complete your hours by the end of the term, you would have to continue coming to class in the fall until your hours were finished.  Please note: 300 hundred of these hours will be deducted from your 3,000 hour post-graduation internship.

·           Two audio tapes of your a counseling session from your Internship (Students earning six hours in a semester must complete 4 video tapes).

·           In the event that the student demonstrates significant weaknesses, he or she may be asked to provide an additional audio taped session.  The session will be listened to and critiqued by the Internship class and supervisor.  With all taped sessions, progress notes should be included.

·           Confidentiality statements should be signed by all clients who are taped (they are included in this package).

·           If you, as a practicum/internship student personally know a client shown in one of the audio tapes, you should excuse yourself from class.

·           No discussion of taped material should be communicated to anyone outside the class.  For example, if you have a concern about someone else’s work, you are required to discuss the matter with the faculty member of this class and not your supervisor.  If you feel an ethical violation has been made, you may discuss the matter with your supervisor but you may not reveal identifiable information about the other student or his/her client.

·           Field experience as indicated on the weekly Internship log

·           Counseling supervision with on-site supervisor.

·           A short (1 or 2 page) paper describing your theory of counseling.

·           A resume or vita submitted for your file.

·           Placement counseling sessions will be supervised by the placement supervisor.

·           Weekly in-class supervision

 
Additional Requirements

Audio Sessions:  During the course of the semester (and each 3 hours of internship), students will be required to present one audio-taped session for review.  Each presentation should include a detailed description of each of the following: identifying information and referral question.  Professional counseling students must also include statements concerning the client’s mental status, developmental history (including academic history, social history, military history, occupational history, medical history, drug use history), test results (if any), diagnosis, summary, recommendations.  If the tape fails to demonstrate mastery, you will be asked to provide another. Written detailed information on the case will be given TO THE PROFESSOR ONLY.  Other class members will receive the information verbally.

 

Insurance: All students must demonstrate proof of professional liability insurance.  This may be obtained through the Internship site, the Texas Counseling Association, or the American Counseling Association.

 

Review of Site and Supervisor: Students will be expected to complete a form identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their site and supervisor.  This will be used to judge the appropriateness of the site for future Internship students.
Evaluation:

Your grade will consist of

·        Case Presentation

·        Audio Sessions

·        Class Participation

·        Review of Site and Supervisor

·        Final Evaluation

 
Disability Statement:

West Texas A & M University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified persons with disabilities. This University will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Disability Support Services and to contact the faculty member in a timely fashion to arrange for suitable accommodations.
Copyright:

Copyright 2005 by Robert Brammer and Terry Hargrave As to this syllabus and all instructional material; materials may not be reproduced without the written consent of Robert Brammer and Terry Hargrave Students are prohibited from selling (or being paid for taking) notes during this course to or by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Robert Brammer and Terry Hargrave
Scholastic Dishonesty:

It is the responsibility of students and instructors to help maintain scholastic integrity at the University by refusing to participate in or tolerate scholastic dishonesty. Commission of any of the following acts shall constitute scholastic dishonesty. This listing is not exclusive of any other acts that may reasonably be said to constitute scholastic dishonesty: acquiring or providing information for any assigned work or examination from any unauthorized source; informing any person or persons of the contents of any examination prior to the time the examination is given in subsequent sections of the course or as a makeup; plagiarism; submission of a paper or project that is substantially the same for two courses unless expressly authorized by the instructor to do so.

A complete statement regarding scholastic dishonesty can be found in the Student Code of Life at http://www.wtamu.edu/administrative/ss/code/code/css/code_17.html

All of these scores will be reflected on the Periodic Evaluation of Counseling Performance form (see next page).  Students receiving an unsatisfactory score on any of these evaluation areas should seek additional supervision to resolve the problem. Students with more than one unsatisfactory area will not pass the Internship.