Practicum and Internship

The practicum and internship are designed as learning experiences that encourage development and refinement of counseling skills and student experimentation with new approaches to counseling practice. Students are required to present cases, demonstrate clinical skills via audio- or video-tape presentations and utilize various approaches to case conceptualization.

Psy.D. Practicum

The doctoral practica occur in the second and third years of the program. In the second program year,  practica registration is continuous in fall semester, January-Term, and spring semester.  In addition, students register concurrently for the Practice Development Seminars (CPSY 910 and 911) in the fall and spring of the second year of study.  In the third year, students register an advanced practicum experience during fall semester, January term, and spring semester.
The practicum coordinator meets with students to assess prior experience and to recommend placements that will meet student career goals.

Psy.D. Internship

A 2000 hour internship is required to complete the Psy.D. degree. The internship may be full-time  (50 weeks in one year) or one-half time (100 weeks in two years).  All coursework, the qualifying examination and the doctoral project proposal must be approved before a student begins internship.

MA Practicum

The practicum experience is designed to integrate and apply the knowledge gained through coursework.  Students typically begin practicum during the fall of their second year, after the completion of six core courses (CPSY 600, 604, 606, 607, 632, and 603 or 650).  Those students interested in pursuing licensure as marriage and family therapists (MFT) must take additional courses (CPSY 650, 652, and 653) prior to beginning practicum.  Practicum occurs over the course of nine months (12 months for MFT students) and consists of 700 hours of on-site experiences.  In addition to on-site supervision and training, students meet for weekly group supervision with an academic supervisor and six to seven other students.