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Internship handbook (Table of Contents) (Online Forms) |
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology ("MAC") The
MAC Internship Handbook: The selection of an Internship site is easily the most important decision that you will make during your involvement in the MAC Program. Because the internship provides in-depth experience and training in one specific area of counseling psychology and will figure prominently on your resumé or vita, the choice of an internship usually lays the foundation for an individual's professional identity for the next three to five years. The choice of an internship, therefore, should not be made lightly. Sometimes students have an internship opportunity "fall in their laps" and are tempted to do an internship based on convenience alone. Don't fall into this trap! Although learning can take place in any internship experience, the best internship will be the one that most closely matches your strengths, interests, and goals. It is worth making an intelligent and well-studied choice so that your internship will truly be a memorable and growth-producing experience. You have had dreams in the past about what you really wanted to do with a counseling degree. Follow those dreams; don't trade them in for convenience! Responsibility for Locating a Site Internship placements are not formally provided by Saint Martin's University and it is the responsibility of the student to secure an internship placement that meets the approval of the Internship Faculty. The faculty will give you every assistance (as will the followings pages of this web site), but locating an internship site is fundamentally your responsibility. This search for an internship is the one of the most important choices you can make during your stay in the MAC program. Although students are expected to find their own sites, the faculty wish to be as helpful as possible to students starting an internship experience. This section of the MAC webpage is designed as a first step in helping you begin this decision-making process.Changes Affecting the Search The internship process has undergone a number of significant changes. Previously, much of the internship advising load for the internship faculty occurred informally and prior to the student's registration in formal coursework. The bulk of this early advising involved helping each student to find an internship experience that fit his/her specific career aspirations and personal style. Much of the faculty involvement occurred by informal, "drop-in" conversations and/or telephone consultations and represented a considerable block of time. In order to improve the efficiency of faculty time and the effectiveness of the internship experience, several changes were put into place. First, the six-hour internship experience and a three-hour internship class were combined. The number of hours that students were required to enroll in this area was reduced from 9 to 6 credit hours. Second, the faculty advising; was shifted to take place during the first few weeks of MAC 691: "Counseling Internship I." This means that faculty assistance in arranging an internship experience prior to enrollment in Counseling Internship I is now somewhat restricted. The internship faculty will chat briefly and consider your preliminary thinking. In fact, the "Internship Concept Form" was designed to help you think through some initial ideas (see below). The MAC Director will also consider any relatively finalized Internship Contracts for those students who want to begin collecting hours a week or so before classes formally begin. However, the MAC Director will not spend extensive time advising or discussing internship possibilities prior to enrollment in Counseling Internship I. |
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Email contact: (MAC@stmartin.edu) |