Introduction
In keeping with national standards for the preparation of professional counselors, the UH-Victoria Counselor Education Program requires that students in the Professional School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree tracks complete COUN 6303 Counseling Practicum over one semester and two sections of COUN 6348 Counseling Internship I & II over two semesters.
Students planning to enroll in COUN 6303 or COUN 6348 I & II must seek out appropriate sites to collect experience and also must identify an appropriate supervisor. Site supervisors must have at least a master’s degree in counseling or closely related field and a minimum of two years of pertinent professional experience in the program area in which the student is enrolled. Site supervisors must also be credentialed as a Certified School Counselor (CSC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Psychologist, or Licensed Psychiatrist.
All students enrolled in COUN 6303 or COUN 6348 must obtain and carry professional liability insurance designed to cover students being trained as counselors and working in approved settings. The liability insurance policy should cover students for completing counseling activities identified by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors and/or the Texas Education Agency/State Board of Educator Certification as relevant to counselors’ roles and duties. Liability Insurance policy limits must be a minimum of $1,000,000.00 per incident and $3,000,000.00 aggregate. Certificate of coverage must be provided to the practicum/internship instructor prior to students working with clients and accruing hours toward practicum/internship.
Students in COUN 6303 Counseling Practicum must earn 100 hours of counseling experience (40 hours of direct service with clients, including experience in individual counseling and, during either practicum or internship I, experience leading or co-leading a counseling or psychoeducational group) to receive a satisfactory grade. Students must meet with their instructor and classmates for a minimum average of 90 minutes per week to receive group supervision, and for an average of one hour per week of individual supervision with their site supervisor.
After successful completion of the practicum, Professional School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling students must complete two sections of COUN 6348 over two semesters for a total of 600 clock hours of supervised counseling internship in roles and settings with clients relevant to their specialty area. Students in COUN 6348 Counseling Internship I & II must earn 300 hours of counseling experience (120 hours of direct service with clients, including experience in individual counseling and, for those who have not completed the requirement of leading or co-leading a counseling or psychoeducation group during the practicum course, MUST successfully complete this requirement during the internship I course) to receive a satisfactory grade. Students must meet with their instructor and classmates for a minimum average of 90 minutes per week to receive group supervision, and for an average of one hour per week of individual supervision with their site supervisor.
Practicum Pre-requisites
Professional School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling students enrolling in COUN 6303 Practicum must have successfully completed 30 hours in the counseling program. Coursework completion for all program students includes:
- COUN 6350 Clinical Mental Health Counseling (for CMHC Counseling Students)
or COUN 6310 Counseling in the Schools (for Professional School Counseling Students)
or COUN 6346 Intro to Student Services (for College Counseling) - COUN 6311 Multicultural Counseling
- COUN 6321 Professional Orientation & Ethics in Counseling
- COUN 6327 Theories of Counseling
- COUN 6329 Group Counseling Theory and Techniques
- COUN 6333 Counseling Techniques
Internship Pre-requisites
All Professional School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling students enrolled in COUN 6348 Internship must have satisfactorily completed COUN 6303.