Clinical Education

Students will receive a Practicum Handbook and an Internship Handbook detailing specific information about clinical education requirements and assessment prior to their practicum and internship experiences.

Description of Clinical Experiences:

The clinical portion of the graduate program in Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology consists of didacic/experiential and clinical course work. (Please consult curriculum on pages 22-24 of the student handbook for sequence of coursework.)

Didactic/Experiential Coursework:

RPSY 806: Applied Counseling Skills in Rehabilitation Counseling & Psychology

This course blends didactic and laboratory instruction in order to bridge the gap between counseling theory and the application of counseling principles. Students will be presented counseling techniques and skills necessary to function as a professional rehabilitation counselor in the didactic portion of the course. The laboratory experience is designed to enhance interviewing skills and case conceptualization abilities that will prepare the student for practicum experience. Students will be expected to responsibly use video recording equipment for taping simulated situations which will then be reviewed with the course instructor.

RPSY 714: Principles of Group Counseling in Rehabilitation Counseling & Psychology

This course helps students learn strategies and techniques for developing and implementing groups in counseling. Attention is given to group counseling with persons with disabilities, specifically those with psychiatric and developmental disabilities. As part of the course, students will have the opportunity to learn about group process and procedures by leading the class through group activity as well as observing outside groups in various agencies and leading an outside group.

NOTE: RPSY 806 and RPSY 714 must both be successfully completed with a grade of “P” or higher before a student will be allowed to enroll in Pre-Practicum (RPSY 801)or Practicum (RPSY 802).

RPSY 814: Introduction to People with Psychiatric or Developmental Disabilities

This course includes a “Day-in-the-Life” experience in which students shadow a person (adult or adolescent) with either a developmental or psychiatric disability and observe their daily life experience. During the experience, students are expected to: a) interview one or more of the following: the person with a disability, a family member, co-worker, professional or others who are involved in the person’s life; b) devote a minimum of 8-10 hours to the observation experience, and c) write a paper relating the day-in-the life experience to some aspect of the 814 course. Students will be exposed to the various services provided by the agency/organization and will be able to interact with consumers. Such experiences will help students solidify their area of focus in the RCP program.

RPSY 801: Pre-Practicum

The pre-practicum course is designed to provide students with specific orientation to their practicum experience. This class includes instruction in: crisis intervention; assessing suicide risk & lethality; scope of practice and ethical standards for rehabilitation counselors; professionalization; review of HIPPA guidelines; and introduction to potential practicum sites, and practicum guidelines. In addition to the didactic portion of the course, students will have the opportunity to visit a number of agencies and facilities and shadow rehabilitation counselor or other counseling professionals as they work with consumers at the agency. Pre-Practicum is a prerequisite to entering the Practicum in Rehabilitation Counseling. Students must complete pre-practicum with a grade of “P” in order to enroll in Practicum.

Clinical Coursework

Note: Students are required to complete clinical courses uninterrupted as scheduled. Once clinical experiences have begun, students must continue uninterrupted on schedule in sequence, until the full course of activities is completed. (Please be aware that even though clinical coursework may extend into summer, "vacation days" are not permitted while participating in practicum or internship). In the case of personal hardship, which may preclude a student from continuing the clinical experience, a written request to withdraw from the experience must be submitted to faculty. If faculty agree to grant the student request, the student must repeat the clinical sequence at the next time it is offered.

Note: Students are required to supply their own micro cassette tape recorder and tapes to be used during their practicum/ internship experience. Performance evaluation forms used in the clinical coursework can be found in Section IX of the handbook.

RPSY 802: Practicum in Rehabilitation Counseling & Psychology

Practicum provides Rehabilitation Counseling students with the opportunity to apply counseling theory and skills learned in prerequisite courses to a real world, clinical setting, as well giving students the opportunity to participate in other related rehabilitation activities at the facility. In addition, students are taught to utilize sound clinical judgment by applying ethical decision making principles. Practicum facilitates development of basic rehabilitation counseling skills and prepares students for more advanced practice in their internship experience. In order to successfully complete practicum, students must reach a level of competency in counseling and have had sufficient counseling experience so that supervisors feel comfortable recommending students to advance to more independent counseling function in internship. The Practicum experience consists of 8 hours per week at the practicum site for 16 weeks, with a minimum of 120 hours of clinical practicum experience. Students are expected to complete the full uninterrupted 16 weeks of practicum. At least half of this time (60 hours) must be spent in direct client service. Failure to obtain 60 hours of direct client service may result in students needing to extend practicum until the full complement of direct client service hours is obtained. Each student must received 1 hour a week of individual supervision on site from a faculty approved site supervisor. Students are also required to meet once per week with faculty on campus for individual supervision and attend a practicum class. Only faculty pre-approved practicum sites may be utilized. All Practicum Sites must be within an hour of traveling time from campus. Practicum is a prerequisite to entering the Internship in Rehabilitation Counseling. Students must complete practicum with at least a grade of “P” in order to enroll in Internship.

RPSY 810: Internship in Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology

Internship is a full-time clinical experience consisting of 40 hours per week for 16 weeks at a faculty approved site consistent with the students chosen specialty track – either developmental or psychiatric disability. Internship is designed to provide opportunities for students to refine their Rehabilitation Counseling skills and to prepare students for successful employment as a Master’s level Rehabilitation Counselor. During Internship, in addition to further counseling experiences, students will also participate in service delivery such as case management, community re-entry, vocational placement, and administrative activities. During internship students are required to complete the full 16 weeks, uninterrupted, and to have a minimum of 600 hours of applied experience in an agency pre-approved by the rehabilitation-counseling faculty. At least 240 hours in internship must consist of direct service to consumers. Students are required to have at least one hour per week of supervision on site by a faculty-approved site supervisor. In addition students are expected to return to campus for a group seminar with rehabilitation counseling faculty. All internship sites must be within an hour of traveling time from campus. Students must complete all the requirements for Internship with a “P” or better in order to qualify for graduation from the Rehabilitation Counseling and Psychology Program.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Active status for all requirements listed below will be reviewed annually (between August 8-15) and any expired status in any requirement will prevent the student from entering or continuing their clinical placement. It is the student’s responsibility to provide documentation that all requirements are met during their program and addressing any expired requirements while completing their program. Prior to entering Practicum or Internship, students must provide documentation of:

Enrollment in personal health and accident insurance
Immunization record as well as any other specific health record required by the clinical site
Results of Tuberculosis Test
Current CPR certification
Record or Waiver of Hepatitis B series
Completion of OSHA Training including blood borne pathogens and Tuberculosis/General Infection
Completion of HIPAA Training
Results of Drug Tests and fingerprinting (If required by Clinical Site)
Results of Criminal Background Check
Registration confirmation for practicum or internship prior to entering practicum or internship

Before students can enter Practicum or Internship the Clinical Training Requirements Checklist (Refer to pages 33-34) must be completed. Students should keep the original of all documents for further use. In order to be admitted to practicum or internship students should attach copies of all documents to the checklist and give the completed packet to the RPSY Program Assistant no later than August 15. Incomplete packets will not be accepted. If various requirements or certifications have expired (such as CPR certification/ HIPAA training, etc. criminal background check) or if all requirements are not completed students will not be allowed to begin practicum or internship. The checklist must be complete and returned to the Program Assistant by the date specified (August 15). Failure to have materials returned to the Program Assistant by that date will delay the student’s ability to begin practicum or internship for one year.

Students who withdraw from clinical experiences are responsible for renewing these requirements. All requirements must be updated and valid before students will be allowed to return to the clinical experience. It is the student’s responsibility to check with the selected practicum/internship site to determine if additional requirements or documentation are required.

Note: When entering the program, even if certification or other requirements are not up for renewal, it is in the student’s best interest to renew requirements to meet the August deadline so that they will be in accordance with the RPSY schedule and therefore will have no delay entering practicum or internship.

PROCESS FOR SELECTING CLINICAL SITES:

Practicum

Students must have successfully completed all didactic/experiential course work and successfully completed Pre-practicum with a “P” or better before starting Practicum.

Students should review faculty-approved sites described in the Practicum Manual, which can be obtained from the RPSY Program Assistant. After reviewing sites, students should discuss interests with their Faculty Advisor. Students should obtain a “Practicum Request Form” from their faculty advisor and list their top two choices. The student and faculty member should then both sign the form and return the form to the Clinical Coordinator. A deadline for returning the form to the Clinical Coordinator will be posted on the student bulletin board. The Clinical Coordinator will contact each site to confirm the sites willingness to participate. Once this confirmation has been obtained, the Clinical Coordinator will notify each student. When students receive confirmation, they should contact their first choice site and arrange an interview. Students should view the interview in the same way as they would if they were interviewing for a job at the site.

After all interviews have been completed, the Rehabilitation Counseling faculty will meet as a whole and make decisions about placement. Although the student’s first choice will be considered as much as possible, the final decision will be based on site availability, the number of students choosing a particular site, and the faculty judgment regarding which site will best meet individual student needs. Individual sites have the right to make final determination regarding whether the student will be able to do their practicum at the site.

If the student’s first choice is not possible, he/she will be notified by the Clinical Coordinator and the process described above will be repeated for the second site.

Internship

Prior to entering internship students must have successfully completed all didactic/experiential course work, successfully completed practicum with a “P” or better, and successfully completed and defended their project/paper/or thesis with their committee.

Students will need to begin the process of exploring internship mid-fall semester by reviewing available, approved sites within their specialty. When choosing internship sites, students should discuss specific interests for internship with their Faculty Advisor. All internship sites must be sites that have been pre-approved by faculty. When the student and faculty advisor agree on a site, the internship request form should be completed, signed by both the student and the advisor and given to the Clinical Coordinator by the designated date. Deadline for requests will be posted on the student bulletin board and are typically made at the end of the fall semester. The Clinical Coordinator will contact the site and confirm their willingness to participate. ce this confirmation has been obtained the Clinical Coordinator will notify each student. The student should then contact the site to set up an interview and determine specific requirements from the site. Each site will make the final determination regarding whether the student will be able do their internship at the site.

Students who are interested in obtaining the North Carolina Psychological Associate credential or who are interested in becoming a licensed professional counselor should check specific requirements for each of those credentials prior to choosing internship site. Information regarding requirements can be found on the Website of the North Carolina Psychology Board (www.ncpsychologyboard.org) or the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors (www.ncblpc.org). It is the student’s responsibility to choose sites that are able to meet supervision requirements for the credential they hope to obtain. Internship placements cannot be split between two sites in order to obtain appropriately credentialed supervisors as related to specializations.

CRITERIA FOR FACULTY APPROVED CLINICAL SITE FOR PRACTICUM OR INTERNSHIP:

Sites approved by faculty for practicum or internship must:

Serve persons with a disability. Internship sites must serve individuals with a psychiatric or developmental disability.
Have at least one person at the site with at least a Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling (CRC preferred) or other closely related counseling field who is willing to provide one hour per week of one to one supervision for the student
Have a signed Affiliation Agreement between the School of Medicine and the Agency
Be within one hour of travel time from the University
Recognized by state or federal licensure or accreditation by the accrediting body appropriate to that agency
Be able to provide the student with a representative sample of the agency’s client population for counseling
Allow students to tape the counseling session