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Practicum Training Program
Training future generations of clinicians is a fundamental component of the mental health profession across disciplines including professional counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, psychology, and psychiatry. All disciplines require practical experience in various treatment settings. The purpose of a training program at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is to provide trainees with clinical experience in working with students in a college counseling center setting.
The training program at CSUCI CAPS subscribes to a Practitioner-Scholar model of training, which emphasizes the development of professional skills among clinicians who use evidence-based practices and a commitment to the ongoing cultivation of cultural humility. The training program is sequential and cumulative in nature and builds on the experience obtained at the clinic. The program is a hybrid of on-campus and telehealth services grounded in a brief therapy model.
Benefits
The benefits to the trainees are that they are provided with substantive and integrated clinical experiences in a college counseling center setting while being supervised by licensed mental health professionals. Trainees practice assessment, individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, treatment planning, case management, outreach to the campus community, and building skills in short-term, problem-focused treatment strategies. The practicum also provides an opportunity for professional and personal development. Further, following completion of the practicum, trainees will have skills to compete for employment opportunities in a variety of jobs in the field of behavioral and mental health.
If you have any questions about our training program, please contact Dr. Olson at kirsten.olson@csuci.edu.