Field Internships
Find Suitable Clinical Training Placements with the Help of a Placement Specialist
To become an effective counselor, you must be able to apply the theories and concepts you are learning in the classroom to real-life scenarios. Counseling@Northwestern Placement Specialists identify suitable clinical sites and Clinical Training Directors (core faculty members) approve sites to meet CACREP and program standards where you can gain supervised experience helping clients with a range of needs.
Clinical Training starts in the first or second term for accelerated full-time students, the fourth term for traditional program students, or the seventh term for part-time students. The placement process begins the quarter before your practicum term. During this period, a placement specialist will start securing a site, and you will receive a placement welcome call from your Student Success Advisor (SSA) to review the process.Whether you are enrolled in the Standard Program or the Bridge Program, you will gain unique insights as you complete both a Practicum and an Internship.
Practicum Training
The 200-hour Practicum shows you how a professional counselor performs various job responsibilities, while also giving you insight into the tasks you may perform as a clinician. The total expected time commitment for the Practicum is 6-16 hours per week.
Element | Total Hours | Additional Information |
Direct client contact | 50 (required total) | Typically one to three hours per week of direct face-to-face contact with adult clients with mild mental health concerns |
Indirect contact | 60 (approximate amount depending on placement start date)**there is no minimum requirement for indirect hours** | Approximately two to three hours per week of record keeping, staff meetings, research, workshops, conferences, training, outreach, advocacy, and/or presentations |
Supervision contact | 90 (approximate amount depending on placement start date) | Required one-hour weekly meetings held on site with your site supervisor to start when placement starts; weekly two-hour Reflective Practitioner Supervision meetings held online with your university supervisor and a small group of students |
You will complete the Practicum in three terms while enrolled in the Supervised Practicum in Counseling courses, which prepares you to provide direct clinical services to clients and apply a basic repertoire of clinical skills.
Internship Training
The 600-hour Internship is an advanced, hands-on clinical experience in which you assume all the functions and characteristics of the role of a counselor as you continue to provide supervised direct counseling to clients. The total expected time commitment for the Internship is 16-32 hours per week.
Element | Total Hours | Additional Information |
Direct client contact | 240 (required total) | Approximately eight to ten hours per week of direct face-to-face contact with clients |
Supervision contact | 90 (approximate amount depending on placement start date) | Required weekly one-hour meetings held on site with your site supervisor to start when placement starts; weekly two-hour Case Conference Supervision meetings held online with your university supervisor and a small group of students |
Indirect contact | 240 (approximate amount depending on placement start date)**there is no minimum for indirect hours** | Approximately eight to ten hours per week of record keeping, staff meetings, research, workshops, conferences, training, outreach, advocacy, and presentations |
While you complete your Internship, you will also:
- learn advanced client management and therapeutic skills during the Supervised Internship in Counseling course; and
- assess your therapeutic effectiveness and articulate areas of concern during the Case Conference Supervision.