Practicum and Internship

Practical counseling experience occurs in your third year of study. Practicum occurs in the fall quarter of third year, and internship occurs in the subsequent winter, spring and summer quarters.

Practicum quarter requires a minimum of 100 clock hours, 40 of which are “direct hours” and 60 are “indirect hours”.  CACREP defines “direct” and “indirect” but generally speaking, a direct hour is time spent providing counseling; where an indirect hour is spent doing tasks that support counseling such as recordkeeping, attending supervision meetings, researching intervention strategies, etc.

The counseling programs have a dedicated Placement Coordinator who supports you as soon as you enter the program with discerning the right internship experience, including monthly workshops on how to research sites, prepare a counseling resume, prepare for interviews or initiate opportunities with new internship sites. The program has a robust system of resources and supports for the internship search process.

The Online Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program has a very large database of approved sites. Many of our students choose from this database or find their own sites, which must be approved by the Placement Coordinator. Students have found internships in a wide variety of organizations and environments. Most commonly students pursue site experience in community mental health agencies, inpatient treatment facilities, clinical counseling in school-based settings, private group practices and hospitals.

Student internship sites are governed by regulations set forth by CACREP, Seattle University and state regulations. We work in collaboration with students to explore how unique internships can meet practical counseling experience requirements.

Yes, there are opportunities for paid internships.  Though they are not the norm, paid internships are on the rise in an effort to establish equity in access to counseling education for all clinical counseling students.