Although specific requirements for Practicum may vary according to the instructor, the course provides students with opportunities to apply their training in a closely supervised clinical setting with clients who present career and personal problems.
Practicum requirements include:
Supervision – The minimum required supervision a student will receive in the practicum semester includes: 1½ hours of group supervision and 1 hour of individual supervision on campus each week. They will also receive 1 hour of continuous individual onsite supervision (minimum) each week at their field site. Some field sites require further supervision. The student will receive a Professional Counseling Performance Evaluation from their Faculty and Site supervisor. See Appendix V for the evaluation.
Time Log - Students will complete 140 clock hours of Practicum work during the semester (10 hours per week for 14 weeks). These hours will include time spent in direct contact with clients (minimum of 40 hours), observation of other students, preparation for counseling sessions, reviewing and scoring tests and other materials pertinent to client work, writing reports, and other related activities approved by the instructor. If students are unable to complete their Practicum hours requirement they will receive an In Progress for the course and the Graduate Counseling Committee will meet to discuss a remediation plan.
Evaluations –Students will be evaluated in writing by their onsite supervisor at the mid-term and end of the semester. The student must provide the supervisor with the Loyola University Department of Counseling COUNSELOR STUDENT EVALUATION form. The student is required to provide the on-site supervisor with the evaluation as well as turning in the completed evaluation to their Practicum Instructor. Students are also required to turn in their own personal evaluation of their site and site supervisor. See Appendix V.
Informed Consent – Students are required to collect their client or parent’s/guardian’s of clients signed permission to receive counseling from a student in training. Students need to provide their clients with the program’s informed consent document and verbally explain that they are a student in training and make sure clients understand what they are signing. See informed consent document in Appendix VI.
Counseling - Students will counsel with clients as assigned, approximately one hour per week per client. Students will spend approximately 4-6 hours per week in direct contact with clients in counseling. Students are not allowed to accept more than 6 active clients without approval from their practicum instructor. Clients may be children, adolescents or adults, and may present personal or career concerns.
Consultation / Observation - Students will conduct at least one observation per week of another student working with a client. Constructive feedback will be given to the student observed. If your site does not allow you to do live observation you may listen to another student’s audio tape.
Case Presentation – Students will be required to submit a case presentation of one of their clients to their on campus supervision group 2 times during the semester. The case presentation will be reviewed with an audio or video tape of the practicum counselor in session with the client. A transcript of the session may also be required. Students may not use intake sessions for their case presentations. The case presentation guidelines will be outlined in the practicum instructor’s syllabus.
Case coordination - Students will be required to maintain client records in accordance with center and Practicum policies. Although the Practicum is a three credit hour course, students should be aware that this is a laboratory course and that they will actually spend ten hours or more per week completing the requirements of the course.
The Practicum facility must meet the following requirements:
- Provide direct counseling services by qualified professionals,
- Provide an opportunity for the Practicum student to perform all activities that a regularly employed staff member in the setting would be expected to perform, subject to limitations imposed by liability considerations, setting specific policies, and confidentiality considerations,
- Provide the Practicum student with at least 140 hours of meaningful and appropriate work, at least 40 clock hours of which are in direct service* to clients,
- Have at least one qualified professional on site who agrees to provide supervision* to the Practicum student, and allow the student to become familiar with a variety of professional activities other than direct service,
- Allow the Practicum student to obtain audio tapes, videotapes, or written case materials, within the bounds of preservation of client confidentiality for use in supervision,
- Allow the Practicum student to gain supervised experience in the use of a variety of professional resources such as appraisal instruments, computers, print and non-print media, professional literature, and research, and
- Provide an evaluation of the Practicum student, both formative and summative.
* Direct Service - When a student is engaging in counseling services such as an intake, counseling session, couple or group counseling, and classroom guidance in a primary (k-12) school. Observations of counseling sessions, assisting school age students with disabilities in testing (such as reading a test to a student), and role playing with volunteers or actors does not count as direct counseling service. See Appendix II for the breakdown of direct and indirect hours.
* Qualified Supervisor - A professional at the Practicum Site who is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified School Counselor, or some other equivalent licensed or certified mental health professional, who agrees to supervise the practicum student and will have a minimum of one continuous hour of individual supervision with the Practicum student weekly.
* Between Semester Policy - According to the LPC Board students must be registered in a course and receiving supervision in order to see clients between semester breaks. The Department of Counseling Faculty has decided to continue to allow students to continue counseling their clients during semester breaks in order to avoid client abandonment and offer the best continuity of care possible.
Students will be given an In Progress (IP) grade for the semester prior to the break in order to maintain registration. In addition, students will be required to attend group supervision for one and a half hours each week on campus. This group supervision may be facilitated by a different University Supervisor. All students are required to be prepared for supervision, i.e., bring tapes to these supervision meetings. Formal case consultation will not be required, however, students are required to participate in informal case consultations, and you may be randomly chosen to present if no other student has volunteered.