LMHC Undergrad Internship Experience: Application process

Describe your graduate field experience in a few words: “FAST AND CRAZY"

Let’s recapture how it all started.

Jan, 11th 2017: 
Students,
I hope your spring semester is off to a good start. There are only 8 weeks until Spring Break (But who’s counting?).
 
If you are going to be going out on practicum or internship in the summer or fall be aware of the upcoming deadlines.
Application Deadlines
Clinical Mental Health/Rehab Counseling
· March 1: Summer semester placement
· June 15: Fall semester placement

You mean happy new year????

That day it hit me. ”This is serious” I had already decided to do my practicum & internship when I had completed most of my classes -just so I did not die in the process. So I was planning to do it in the Spring 2018 semester. That did not save me from the consecutive emails/reminders about deadlines, forms, papers, etc starting on January 2017. Everyone would talk about their “practicum/internship” that year. People that were doing the field experience in addition to other classes seemed lifeless. My classmates would tell stories about how they were taking "X" class, plus their practicum/internship class, plus going to the site most days of the week, plus working on progress notes, and preparing for their final project. WHILE also managing to eat, keep their relationships alive, and praying they could survive a few more months with what was left of their student loans. Caffeine was undeniably their best friend. I knew that was going to be me in a few months; yet with a job instead of a class. Still, lifeless while holding caffeine by the hand (tightly), but with a job, you know?. Now, please note that I was advised MANY times that it was NOT recommended to hold a job while doing your field experience. Every single professor would warn me about this throughout grad school. At the interview for the graduate program, The coordinators make you commit to not hold a job during the field experience. The field experience is a JOB itself (just sadly unpaid). By mid-year, I was convinced (by my peers’ stories) that I was not going to be able to survive that stress with my full-time job as a Recovery Coach (at an Eating Disorder facility). I had to find another route to make money more flexibly. I just could not imagine my life without a job. I was not sure I was going to make it financially without a paid job. So I “had to” find away. I decided to go into the restaurant business. In August 2017, I quit my recovery coach job and got a job as a “take-out” person at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. I did my best to build experience and a good reputation quickly so I could get to the waitress position before the Spring semester started, and so I did!

Welcome to my life free pizza :)

It was September 2018, and I still had not heard about the deadlines or application information for those going into their field experience in Spring 2018. Someone told me in class they had already applied and that the application deadline was within the month. I freaked out and emailed all the professors I knew. It so happened that my advisor did not have me in her email list, so I was never aware of what was going on - I was not even clear of who my advisor was (I hope she never reads this). It gets nerve-racking how you REALLY have to be on top of every detail about your career during your entire career. When you think you can relax, DO NOT!!! There is always something you should be doing throughout your entire graduate degree. I mean it.

The application process seemed simple, but it was stressful. I had to sign up for the practicum class (thankfully there was a spot for me), pick 3 prospect sites (from a list given to me) and pray that one of them would take me, get my unofficial transcripts, send 3 copies of my application package to my advisor (in person), go to the field experience orientation meeting (Nov 30th 2017), get a liability insurance, and I do not what else, but it seemed like a lot for a person that was working a full-time job and taking 5 graduate-level classes.

Getting a site was like applying for a job, but worse because you have 1-2 months to get the position. I sent emails to my 3 prospect sites relaying my interest (or desperation?) on a practicum student position. I did not hear back from any of my sites of interest and then realized one of the emails did not exist (things like this will happen). It took a lot of diligence to find a site. I ended up reaching out to 8 different sites (if not more). I only got 3 interviews. For one of them, the staff was highly unprofessional/unreliable throughout the whole interview process. I was so confused that I was not clear whether we had an interview or not, but basically they were willing to take me. Yet, they worked with males with schizophrenia, which was way out of my comfort zone and experience. Besides, I had already gotten very negative feedback from that site, so I turned it down without question. The other place had the perfect population for me; yet, it was over an hour away from my house and in a quite unsafe neighborhood. I still remember my interviewee asking me to wait for my Uber inside their premises (it was noon / full daylight), notify the staff when I was leaving so someone could walk me out, and never leave the office on my own especially at night. So yeah, that was not going to work for me. The other interview I had was disappointing too. It was a private practice (a very nice one). The Clinical Director told me that they did not have a lot of clients, meaning that I would have to make up my *clinical* hours by taking phone calls and doing secretary duties. I was just shocked... Don't get me wrong! I do a great job as a secretary, but that was not exactly what I was looking to excel at during my practicum experience.

After a month of these unpleasant adventures, I still had NOTHING. My school advisor was losing her patience on me, though she remained sweet and professional. God bless her!. Yet, I still had NOTHING. I resolved to speak with my favorite professor, who also happens to be the director of the program (that is the most valuable relationship in my entire career, make one like that!) and she set me up (VERY LAST MINUTE; i.e. the day of the deadline) with a site. With her recommendation, I had the position pretty much guaranteed. The site was not particularly what I was looking for, but it was something, and at that point I just needed SOMETHING! If you are in the process of starting your field experience and you feel like you want to pull your hair out and cry, just know that I literally cried (maybe pulled my hair out once or twice too) but I survived, so you will survive too.

MY ADVICE TO YOU:

1) Prepare for your field experience from the moment you commit to graduate school. By this I mean, be PROACTIVE. Talk to people, make relevant connections with peers, ask them about their experience, look up the list of sites your school offers (your advisor will tell you where to find it), and visit the sites if you can.

2) Know what are your deal breakers as well as what you want to get out of it. Ask yourself, what is the population you would want to work with, where, and why?

3) Try to have a site aligned 4-6 months prior to the start date. Make the initial contact with anticipation. Email them and tell them about your interest in that site. Make sure they know you will be applying soon.

I will be sharing about the actual field experience in my next post. So stay tuned!

Your Hustler,

Daniela M.