The student makes arrangements to complete the Practicum/Internship

Contract with the university instructor for the practicum course and the site

supervisor.

Field Placement Protocol for Professional School Counseling Students

In addition to following the above procedures, Professional School Counseling students will work with the UNCP School of Education Office of University-School Programs in securing permission for placements within local public schools.

Practicum Hours

Students must complete a total of 100 clock hours during the practicum semester. At least sixty of the 100 total hours must be in direct client contact and no more than forty hours may be fulfilled by indirect contact completing related professional responsibilities that do not involve client contact. Students may not begin accruing hours until after the first class session or at the discretion of the course instructor and must complete all hours by the last day of classes for the semester or at the discretion of the course instructor. Students must remain engaged in their roles at their placements for the entire duration of the semester, even if the hours requirement is met earlier.

Direct and Indirect Client Contact

Examples of activities that fulfill the direct contact hours are telephone intake interviews, co-counseling sessions, individual or group counseling sessions, and classroom guidance for Professional School Counseling students. Examples of indirect contact hours include staff meetings, record keeping, assessment instruments, information and referral,

treatment team meetings, supervision, professional development training. Class time does not constitute direct or indirect client contact.

Recording Counseling Sessions

Approved sites give permission for students to audiotape/videotape direct client contact. In addition to site permission, students must secure written consent from every client prior to audiotaping/videotaping any contact. Students must obtain consent using the Client Consent to Audiotape/Videotape Form (see appendix for form), and any additional site-specific paperwork that may be required. Students should express to clients when seeking permission to audiotape/videotape that the purpose of the tape is to evaluate the student counselor and improve upon counseling skills, not to evaluate the clients or the issues discussed by the clients. The audiotapes/videotapes will be shared in individual and group supervision at the site and in the practicum class. Additionally, students must take great care when transporting the recordings either physically or electronically. The material contained in the recordings is considered confidential. Students are expected to maintain the highest level of ethical and professional behavior during the practicum experience. Violating the confidentiality of a client is considered an ethical breach of conduct and grounds for dismissal from the practicum course. Practicum students must submit at least 5 recordings of counseling sessions to their instructor and present at least 1 case presentation to the practicum class.

Supervision

Students may receive individual and group supervision at their sites. In addition to any group supervision available at the site, each student’s site supervisor must also agree to provide at least one hour of individual supervision per week. An appropriate site

supervisor will have at least two years of post-licensure counseling experience and have a professional license in good standing: such as LPC-S, LPC, LMFT, or licensed school counselor. The department prefers that students be supervised by Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), but may approve other clinical credentials when an LPC or LPC-S is not available and all other criteria for a site are met. Additionally, the site supervisor will be asked to provide midterm and final evaluations of the student’s professional

performance at the site. These evaluations are considered part of the formal evaluation of student progress in the course. The university instructor will also discuss student progress with the site supervisor during the semester in person or via telephone communication.

Liability Insurance

Students are required to obtain proof of professional liability insurance before beginning practicum and internship courses. Proof of this insurance is required at the first class meeting. Students will not be allowed to proceed in the practicum without this liability insurance. Liability insurance is available through many professional organizations such as the North Carolina Counseling Association, the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of North Carolina, American Counseling Association, and the American School Counseling Association (school counselors only).

Professional Disclosure Statement

Students are required to develop Professional Disclosure Statements during the practicum class. At a minimum, the Professional Disclosure Statement should include information about services provided, counselor credentials and relevant experience, fees, billing information, confidentiality, supervision arrangements, how records will be handled, and informed consent. Additional information about Professional Disclosure Statements is available on the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors website.

Internship Courses

The same application procedures apply to students switching to new sites after CNS 6100 Counseling Practicum for CNS 6120 or CNS 6130 and between Internship I and II.

CNS 6120 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship (3 hours, repeated once for total of 6 hours)

The clinical mental health counseling internship is a field placement course. The field placement is required to take place in a setting appropriate to the students' graduate counseling program of study. All placements must have approval from the program faculty the semester before enrollment. The internship experience provides opportunity for in-depth application of counseling skills and techniques. Students will demonstrate their ability to apply theory to practice. Students receive field-based supervision at their sites and university-based group supervision during class time. Students must complete a total of 300 clock hours at the field placement site during each semester of enrollment in this course. Sixty percent of the 300 clock hours must be in direct client contact each semester that the course is completed. The course is completed twice for a total of 6

credit hours and 600 clock hours. Prerequisite: Completion of CNS 6100 Counseling

Practicum and a minimum of a grade point average of 3.0.

CNS 6130 School Counseling Internship (3 hours, repeated once for total of 6 hours)

The school counseling internship is a field placement course. The field placement is required to take place in a setting appropriate to the students' graduate counseling program of study. All placements must have approval from the program faculty the semester before enrollment. The internship experience provides opportunity for in-depth application of counseling skills and techniques. Students will demonstrate their ability to apply theory to practice. Students receive field-based supervision at their sites and

university-based group supervision during class time. Students must complete a total of 300 clock hours at the field placement site during each semester of enrollment in this course. Sixty percent of the 300 clock hours must be in direct client contact each semester that the course is completed. The course is completed twice for a total of 6 credit hours and 600 clock hours. Prerequisite: Completion of CNS 6100 Counseling Practicum I and

a minimum of a grade point average of 3.0.

Internship Policies

The following Internship Policies apply to students taking both the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship and the School Counseling Internship. Setting-specific policies will be addressed during internship classes.

Field Experience Placement

As with the practicum course, Clinical Mental Health Counseling students are required to find and secure their own internship sites during the practicum semester or may choose to continue at the same site through practicum and internship. Professional School

Counseling students will continue to work with the Office of University-School Programs to secure permission to work within local public schools. Sometimes, faculty will require students to change locations from practicum to internship if a site is deemed to be an inappropriate fit for a student’s optimal learning experience. If a student does continue placement at the same setting from the practicum to the internship, the student should follow the academic calendar for internship scheduling. Students can not accrue hours for CNS 6120 or CNS 6130 between academic semesters. For example, students who

complete practicum courses during the fall must wait to begin the internship when the spring semester begins. All internship hours must be completed at one site only. Students who are changing sites between practicum and internship should submit both the Field Placement Request Application and the Proposed Site Supervisor Form to the Field Placement Coordinator by the established deadline. Students should not begin their field placement experiences until permission is secured by the Field Placement Coordinator and all preliminary paperwork has been completed and submitted. As with the practicum, the internship site should offer:

• direct and indirect client contact

• permission for the student to audiotape/videotape client contact

• appropriate supervision for the student.

semester. During each semester of internship, at least 180 internship hours must be completed through direct client contact and the remaining 120 hours may be fulfilled through indirect contact with the student engaged in completing related professional responsibilities that do not involve client contact. Students may not begin accruing hours until after the first class session or at the discretion of the course instructor and must complete all hours by the last day of classes for the semester or at the discretion of the course instructor.

Direct and Indirect Client Contact

Examples of activities that fulfill the direct contact hours are telephone intake interviews, co-counseling sessions, individual or group counseling sessions, and classroom guidance (for Professional School Counseling interns). Examples of indirect contact hours include staff meetings, record keeping, assessment instruments, information and referral,

treatment team meetings, supervision, and professional development training. Class time does not constitute direct or indirect client contact.

Recording Counseling Sessions

Approved sites give permission for students to audiotape/videotape direct client contact. In addition to site permission, students must secure written consent from every client prior to audiotaping/videotaping any contact. Students must obtain consent using the Client Consent to Audiotape/Videotape Form and any additional site-specific paperwork (see appendix for form). Students should express to clients when seeking permission to audiotape/videotape that the purpose of the tape is to evaluate and improve upon the demonstrated counseling skills and not to evaluate the clients or the issues discussed by the clients. The audiotapes/videotapes will be shared in individual and group supervision at the site and in the internship class. Students must take great care when transporting the recordings, physically or electronically. The material contained in the recordings is considered confidential. All information shared in individual and group supervision is considered confidential. Students are expected to maintain the highest level of ethical and professional behavior during the practicum. Violating the confidentiality of a client is considered an ethical breach of conduct.

Internship students must submit at least 5 recordings of counseling sessions to their instructor and present at least 2 case presentations to the internship class.

Supervision

Students may receive individual and group supervision at their sites. In addition to any group supervision available at the site, each student’s site supervisor must also agree to provide at least one hour of individual supervision per week. An appropriate site

supervisor will have at least two years of post-licensure counseling experience and have a professional license in good standing: such as LPC-S, LPC, LMFT, or licensed school counselor. The department prefers that students be supervised by Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), but may approve other clinical credentials when an LPC or LPC-S is not available and all other criteria for a site are met. Additionally, the site supervisor will be asked to provide midterm and final evaluations of the student’s professional

performance at the site. These evaluations are considered part of the formal evaluation of student progress in the course. The university instructor will also discuss student progress with the site supervisor during the semester in person or via telephone communication.

Liability Insurance

Students are required to obtain proof of professional liability insurance before beginning practicum. Proof of this insurance is required at the first class meeting. Students will not be allowed to proceed in the practicum without this liability insurance. Liability

insurance is available through many professional organizations such as the North Carolina Counseling Association, the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of North Carolina, American Counseling Association, and the American School Counseling Association (school counselors only).

APPENDIX

• Suggestions for Success in Online Counseling Courses • Signature Assignment Chart

• Path to Licensure Chart for Clinical Mental Health Counselors • Path to Licensure Chart for Professional School Counselors • Comprehensive Exam Information

• National Counselor Exam Information • Field Placement Forms

• Advising Checklist: Clinical Mental Health Counselors • Advising Checklist: Professional School Counselors • Curriculum: Course Descriptions

Suggestions for Success in Online Counseling Courses

From the UNCP Counseling Programs Faculty

1. Most online learning at UNCP occurs using Blackboard. You can access Blackboard here: https://blackboard.uncp.edu/webapps/login/. You can view tutorials, including “How To” videos, about Blackboard here:

http://www.uncp.edu/blackboard/ and here:

http://ondemand.blackboard.com/students.htm. A Blackboard introductory training session is offered at Graduate Student Orientation each Fall and Spring semester. Technical support for Blackboard is available at 1-866-518-3954. UNCP’s Division of Information Technology is available to help at 910-521- 6260. This online video tutorial series was created by UNCP's Distance Learning center and should be helpful to students in online and hybrid

courses: http://www.uncp.edu/distance/online/online.html

2. The Livermore Library provides resources to support distance education. Use these resources to help you creating projects, doing research, and completing course assignments: http://www.uncp.edu/library/distance/.

3. UNCP provides several on campus computer labs for student use. You can find a list of computer labs here: http://www.uncp.edu/doit/labs/. Computer labs and a campus wireless connection provide additional options, besides your home computer system, to access online materials.

4. Counselors (faculty and students) are typically people who like being around people. Sometimes students miss the face-to-face contact provided in traditional classroom instruction, even when they value the convenience and opportunity of online instruction. Help bridge the divide by visiting with your course instructors on campus and participating in on campus events with other students!

5. Would you like to learn how to use programs such as PowerPoint or Excel? Consider participating in a free on campus training. See the training calendar here: http://www.uncp.edu/doit/training/.

6. As with all courses, you must take responsibility for your education. If you are falling behind, confused, or in need of support reach out to your classmates and course instructor. Reach out early! Ask for additional feedback as needed.

7. Create boundaries for work that you do at home. Help your family understand that when you are online for class you are working.

8. When communicating online with your instructor and your classmates remember how difficult it can be to convey tone and meaning in written word, so carefully construct your emails and discussion board posts. Always include your name and the course you are referencing when communicating with your instructor. When replying to classmates, consider using quotations of their posts to be precise. Use

correct spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. Be concise and brief— get to the point!

9. Try to be yourself online just as you are in the classroom. Your humanness in your online communication enhances and personalizes course discussions. 10. If you use cut and paste from an outside source, make sure you cite your source. 11. If you’re feeling burned out with too much computer time, consider changing

your environment. Many fast food restaurants and public gathering places offer free wireless connections. Maybe a change of scenery will help.

12. Purchase all required material in advance of the course. You don’t want to start the semester behind while you wait for books to be shipped to you. You can look up textbooks in advance on UNCP’s Bookstore webpage:

http://www.uncp.edu/bookstore/textbooks/ and find information from the Bookstore about distance education here:

http://www.uncp.edu/bookstore/distance/.

13. Check your email often. Check the Announcements on Blackboard often. 14. Back up your work! Save your work to your hard drive, a jump drive, and your

email.

15. Find a study partner in class and schedule regular face-to-face meetings to review course content with your study partner.

16. Print, read, and refer to your course syllabus. Follow the course schedule. Write due dates in your paper or electronic calendar.

17. Remember to protect confidential data, such as counseling role plays, when you listen to recordings from home or elsewhere and when transferring data between devices. You should use password protected files and delete all copies of

confidential materials from your hard drive and recording devices.

18. Make sure your computer, especially at home, is technically up to date and has the appropriate connection speed. Computer issues: cache, security settings, Internet connection, browser Internet options, etc. may create problems with the proper display or interaction with online classroom functions. A call to the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) Help Desk (910-521-6260) can assist you in reviewing your settings. Also check out DoIT’s list of to dos for new students and their DoIT Welcome Student Packet: http://www.uncp.edu/doit/students/.

19. Don’t use “texting language” in communication with professors or classmates. 20. Complete end of course evaluations. Your feedback helps!

Counseling Programs Program Outcomes Signature Assignments

Program Outcomes Signature assignment

Upon completion of the Counseling Program, students will show evidence of being reflective practitioners and critical thinkers who seek to respect diverse worldviews, demonstrate self-evaluation and self-reflection strategies, and engage in ongoing interpersonal skill development. Students will develop professional identities as counselors. Furthermore, each student will develop knowledge and demonstrate competency in the areas of:

1. Human growth and development, including an understanding of biopsychosocial models of development;

CNS 5025 Personal Developmental History & Critical Analysis Paper

2. Personal characteristics, professional orientation, and ethical practices of counselors consistent with the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics and state and federal laws that govern the practice of counselors;

CNS 5000

Ethics Paper

3. Theoretical approaches to counseling and case conceptualization, including articulation of a personal theory of counseling and an integrative approach to wellness and prevention as a professional counselor;

CNS 5400 Statement of Theory Paper

4. Helping relationships, counseling skills and techniques; CNS 5050 Final Interview Session 5. Group dynamics, process, and counseling, including process-oriented groups and

psychoeducational groups;

CNS 5100 _{Group Counseling Theory Paper}

6. Career development and practice that is appropriate to the student’s employment setting; CNS 5700 Reflective Career Paper 7. Multicultural and social justice issues in counseling, including an approach to advocacy for

the profession and diverse client populations;

CNS 5800 Personal Narrative

8. Appraisal and assessment, including application of developmental theory; CNS 5600 Case Report

9. Crisis intervention, including skills necessary to communicate and collaborate with, or refer