Availability: Full-time (25 to 35 hours per week) or Part-time (10 to 15 hours per week)

Interns will demonstrate appropriate (to the concentration – i.e., community, school, child, adolescent, adult, chemical dependency, etc) professional proficiency in the use of counseling, assessment and diagnosis, guidance, and programming skills, to include evidenced-based intervention strategies with systems of varying size and complexity. Multicultural counseling will be demonstrated for the diverse American populations of any placement site, along with demonstrating multicultural awareness for the special needs of international and immigrant clients. The emphasis is on direct and ethical counseling practice, using various modalities of practice to implement the didactic and experiential training received throughout their coursework.

1. Use core counseling skills of empathy, active listening, appropriate questioning, appropriate self-disclosure, respect, concreteness, genuineness, silence, cultural competency and immediacy within the counseling process.
2. Use advanced counseling skills such as advanced accurate empathy, confrontation, a theoretical approach(s), and culturally appropriate counseling strategies and techniques within the counseling process.
3. Engage in concrete service interventions appropriate to client needs, site function, and assigned professional responsibilities.
4. Provide counseling and concrete services within a culturally relevant framework.
5. Complete diagnosis, assessment and testing within the scope of practice at OPA.
6. Formulate and implement a treatment plan to address a client’s life issues.
7. Terminate and evaluate the counseling relationship.

Becoming a Professional Counselor

1. Apply the professional skills of self-observation and self-awareness.
2. Attend regular supervision and use supervision feedback for effective change. The Intern collaborates with both the On-Site Supervisor and the Internship Instructor in formulating learning needs and interests. The Intern prepares work agendas, weekly contact logs, and case notes and regularly shares them with supervisors.
3. Integrate theory from the coursework into practice at the OPA.
4. Manage time and work demands professionally.

Site and Community Skills

1. Describe the organizational structure, administrative procedures, services offered, and responsibilities of employees.
2. Describe the impact of selected policies, legislation, and organizational structure on site services, clients, staff, and self.
3. Identify how the typical client’s community system plays a role in the client’s life and use community resources in treatment planning.
4. Serve as a change agent for both the Internship Site and the community.

Interns will be accepted from any of the mental health fields including clinical social work, mental health counseling, and/or marriage and family therapy.