Does it hurt to do a non-college prac if I want a college internship?

[annel]

Hi!
I'm in the 3rd year of a PsyD program. I did my first practicum last year at my school's community clinic. My site this year is in a University counseling center.

Next year, I was thinking of doing a practicum in an area where I've had little to no exposure--like a drug/alcohol treatment center or domestic violence community center. I think it'd be interesting to gain exposure to different areas of clinical focus. This is in part due to the fact that I don't know exactly what I want to do with my career and I'd like to explore options. Additionally, I figure gaining exposure to DV/substance use could only help me in whatever setting I'm in given that it's hard to get supervised experienced after grad school.

My only concern is that doing a non-college site will hurt my chances of getting a college internship--and ideally I think I'd like to do an internship in a college counseling center. I've heard a couple of people use the following argument: that if you want a college site, it will help if you've done two college pracs so you can show your strong interest in college counseling, and this makes you a more competitive applicant for college internships.

So what do you all think? Would doing only one year of prac (vs two years) in a college setting hurt my internship chances? Or could the breadth of experiences actually benefit my internship app?

Thanks for your help!

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[LETSGONYR]

Hi!
I'm in the 3rd year of a PsyD program. I did my first practicum last year at my school's community clinic. My site this year is in a University counseling center.

Next year, I was thinking of doing a practicum in an area where I've had little to no exposure--like a drug/alcohol treatment center or domestic violence community center. I think it'd be interesting to gain exposure to different areas of clinical focus. This is in part due to the fact that I don't know exactly what I want to do with my career and I'd like to explore options. Additionally, I figure gaining exposure to DV/substance use could only help me in whatever setting I'm in given that it's hard to get supervised experienced after grad school.

My only concern is that doing a non-college site will hurt my chances of getting a college internship--and ideally I think I'd like to do an internship in a college counseling center. I've heard a couple of people use the following argument: that if you want a college site, it will help if you've done two college pracs so you can show your strong interest in college counseling, and this makes you a more competitive applicant for college internships.

So what do you all think? Would doing only one year of prac (vs two years) in a college setting hurt my internship chances? Or could the breadth of experiences actually benefit my internship app?

Thanks for your help!

I believe that as long as you have sufficient experience in the CC setting, this shouldn't be an issue. In fact, I think you can definitely sell it as a positive... college students often binge drink or have other alcohol/drug issues, and interpartner violence is common amongst college-aged people. In your essays and on interviews, you can talk about how these experiences helped familiarize you with warning signs and different treatments for conditions often experienced by college students, and how you can integrate what you learned at those sites with what you've learned from previous work at college counseling centers.

They don't have to be unrelated.

 

[psyunknown]

Hi!
I'm in the 3rd year of a PsyD program. I did my first practicum last year at my school's community clinic. My site this year is in a University counseling center.

Next year, I was thinking of doing a practicum in an area where I've had little to no exposure--like a drug/alcohol treatment center or domestic violence community center. I think it'd be interesting to gain exposure to different areas of clinical focus. This is in part due to the fact that I don't know exactly what I want to do with my career and I'd like to explore options. Additionally, I figure gaining exposure to DV/substance use could only help me in whatever setting I'm in given that it's hard to get supervised experienced after grad school.

My only concern is that doing a non-college site will hurt my chances of getting a college internship--and ideally I think I'd like to do an internship in a college counseling center. I've heard a couple of people use the following argument: that if you want a college site, it will help if you've done two college pracs so you can show your strong interest in college counseling, and this makes you a more competitive applicant for college internships.

So what do you all think? Would doing only one year of prac (vs two years) in a college setting hurt my internship chances? Or could the breadth of experiences actually benefit my internship app?

Thanks for your help!

Most UCC's want to see that you have one full year practicum experience at a UCC - which it sounds like you will have. You want to have over 100 hours of direct service at a UCC before applying for internship if possible. I agree with the previous poster that a substance use prac would be helpful. However just as a note, not all UCC look at DV/IPV experience as a bonus. In my experience UCCs really look for experiences in UCCs and experience with eating disorders, substance abuse, crisis intervention, brief therapy, and group therapy.

I should note though that I have seen the rare case of someone with no UCC experience getting a UCC internship due to their cover letter and essays. So part of getting the internship is how you sell yourself.

Good luck.

 

[annel]

Thanks for the replies! Can anyone else corroborate on what was said above? Is substance use training more valued than DV training? Would it benefit me to have two college sites over one?

So far, I have almost 200 hours direct client contact at a UCC.

 

[KillerDiller]

For the sake of being a well-rounded clinician (or, if you must, a well-rounded internship applicant) I think you would be far better off taking the non-UCC practicum than doing another year at a UCC. I really bristle at the idea of someone doing all of their doctoral training in one type of setting.

FWIW, this is coming from someone currently at a UCC internship site and someone who was involved in the intern selection process for this most recent year.