Potential Internship Sites and Goals

I have two potential internship sites in mind. The first one is an outpatient counseling center that provides counseling to all ages. The clinical services available are family and marital counseling, drug and alcohol abuse counseling (individual and group), career counseling and testing, and counseling for displaced homemakers. One of the reasons why this is a potential site for me is because I work for this agency in a different program which is prevention based; however, I am currently not counseling. I believe it is not only convenient for me but also, the agency has an excellent reputation that is appealing. Additionally, the agency has an internship program, which is also beneficial because I can share and learn with other interns as well as trained counselors.

Yet, another reason why this site would be of interest to me is because the Clinical Director and the Senior Counselor are both Licensed Professional Counselors. This means that I will acquire supervision from a licensed counselor as opposed to a licensed Social Worker or Psychologist and being an LPC is the credential that I am opting to achieve.

One of the challenges that I find in exploring internship sites is that most places have Licensed Clinical Social Workers and I do realize that their field, although some may argue, is different from ours. One of the downfalls, however, in doing my internship here is that it is an outpatient clinic and I will have to compensate in direct hours due to cancellations. Because of the length of the semester (being short) and my financial responsibilities, I am unable to really fit in any additional time in my schedule to obtain the required hours.

The other site I am exploring is a hospital that has an extensive list of behavioral health services. The good thing about doing my internship at this hospital is the list of services. It has a campus dedicated to providing mostly behavioral and mental health services to all ages. Included in those services are in-patient psychiatric services to adults and children. Most of my previous experience has been in in-patient facilities so I would feel comfortable completing my internship at their inpatient units. Another thing that is good is that the patients are all hospitalized and I would not have to worry as much about completing my requirements for direct hours. I also get to work closely with Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Art/Recreation Therapists, Dieticians, and Social Workers. This will be advantageous for the patients because it is multidimensional. It would also be great to be able to interact with various members of the team. I enjoy learning, and the idea of having the opportunity to pick on every team members’ brain in various disciplines is appealing to me.

Nevertheless, there is a disadvantage. The drawback is that the patients are probably not hospitalized long enough to be able to see much progress. The purpose of the hospitalization is to help them become stable but I would imagine that it will be difficult to establish a solid therapeutic relationship because they are there for one to three weeks.

Additionally, most of the population may be suffering from serious and persistent mental illnesses. At least this is what I have experienced; therefore, I would be working with people who are probably diagnosed with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar, and other more serious mental disorders. This also poses a safety concern for me although I have been able to handle it in the past.

Desired Counselor Credentials and Additional Activities Required

As stated previously, I am interested in getting licensed as a Professional Counselor (LPC). I know the program  at Montclair State University is a 48 credit program; consequently, it means I would have to get 12 more credits to become eligible for this license.  I have currently fulfilled 75% of the Professional Core Courses and I am still working on the Practicum (which I am currently taking) and the Internship (which I hope to start in the Fall 2006). The requirement for the LPC credential is the completion of a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours and either 4,500 hours of supervised experience or 3,000 supervised hours plus 30 semester hours beyond the Masters Degree. I’m thinking about going with the second plan which is the 30 credit hours beyond the Maters. I enjoy attending graduate school so this seems like the most logical choice for me. Plus, it will also help me if I decide to go for a Doctorate Degree later on.

Additional Professional Development Activities Desired

I am half way through my counseling education program. During my education, I am planning to achieve not only the skills and credentials necessary to become a licensed counselor, but also a Registered Nurse. My specialization at Montclair is Community Counseling and I hope to go into private practice. However, eventually I would like to start a Wellness Center and I am interested in specializing in a holistic prevention and disease management approach to counseling.

I think the combination in training will help me gain the skills necessary to educate people in wellness and counsel those who are struggling or coping with not only self-esteem issues, but also medical diseases and/or disorders. The focus of my counseling would be to incorporate all of these issues holistically in a way that will help my clients enhance their overall quality of life.

Desired Employment/Professional Position 1, 3, 5, & 10 Years after Graduation

One year after completing my Masters Degree, I would hope to be working on my Nursing Degree. I am planning to attend an accelerated 2^nd degree program, which is 15 months of full-time study at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. I also hope to be working probably one to two days a week as a Clinician to gain and practice counseling skills and also to begin to acquire hours for my license as a counselor.

Three years after completing my Masters, I hope to have finished my Nursing Degree and therefore be practicing as a Nurse on a per-diem basis. During this time I hope to have already started pursing my 30 extra graduate hours in Counseling.

Five years after my Masters, I hope to have gained experience as a Nurse and a Counselor and have acquired enough hours to get my license for professional counseling. During this time, I will begin to explore the possibility of venturing out into private practice. My career as a nurse will give me the flexibility of different shifts to work and a good hourly rate while I jump start my private practice. I am hoping to find a partner or two that may perhaps be specializing in marriage and family therapy and go into a partnership. When people get sick the whole family is affected so I think it would work well if I had a colleague to work with in this area. I would like to at least have someone to share an office with or rent space with. I think starting a practice by yourself can be very lonely and draining. However, I am also aware of the downfalls of going into a partnership so I would need to have a well thought out plan. Ten years from getting my Masters Degree, I hope to have started a comprehensive wellness center.