Welcome to the website for our Practicum Program! We have training opportunities for advanced masters and early doctoral students here at Counseling, Health, & Wellness Services. We're pleased you are interested in the opportunity to train with us and have provided the following pages to help inform your decision.
We are accepting applications for our 2023-24 year.
We have two open positions each academic year for the Practicum Program. We accept applications from January 1 through February 24 for the upcoming academic year. We typically interview candidates in late February to early March and indicate our website when the positions have been filled.
Practicum Counselors begin with us in late August each year for an orientation to the clinic. They begin individual supervision immediately and begin building a client caseload in early September.
Practicum Counselors are clinically supervised by our Doctoral Interns and a licensed psychologist. This close attention to counselor development -- including supervisors reviewing session recordings and our thoughtful assignment of clients to Practicum Counselors -- is the primary feature of our training here.
Our learning model is "quality over quantity," so you should expect to see a smaller number of clients here for a longer period of time than you would at other practicum sites. And most importantly, you should expect to explore, discuss and analyze your work with your clients in supervision. Taking the time to understand client treatment needs, relationship dynamics, counselor skills, and personal responses are vital to learning psychotherapy -- and to enjoy it!
To enable this kind of focused attention, Practicum Counselors record all of their therapy sessions. The intern co-supervisor will review session recordings and provide feedback to enhance skills. The psychologist co-supervisor will assist with skills development, ethical considerations and oversee all clinical cases.
For more detail, please continue to browse the other three pages of our website. The first is the Position Description, which provides a more comprehensive description of the Practicum Counselor role at CHWS.
The next page is the Practicum Counselor Agreement. Although this is only something you'd need if you were to be joining us for training, we always include it along with our application materials because it describes in clear detail how clinical hours are accumulated, our philosophy about each staff person's responsibilities, and so on. These details may be helpful in discussion with your own Academic Training Director as you consider together the extent to which our program would meet your training needs, but you needn't sign or return this agreement to us right now.
The last page is our Application Form. Should you decide to apply, please complete the application form and essays, and email them to epotts@pugetsound.edu along with your vita.
Feel free to send an email or call if you'd like to have a more personal conversation about our Practicum Counselor training program at the University of Puget Sound's Counseling, Health, & Wellness Services. You're welcome to arrange a time to come say hello, meet some of the CHWS staff, and take a look at our Center and Prac Counselor office, even if you won't be applying to train here for another year or so.
Megan Martinez, Ph.D. (she|her|hers)
Psychologist and Outreach and Prevention Coordinator
University of Puget Sound
Counseling, Health and Wellness Services
1500 N. Warner St., Box 1035 Tacoma, WA 98416-1035
253.879.1555
253.879.3766 (fax)
Mmartinez@pugetsound.edu