HSV 593 - Field Practicum I

3 Credits

This course provides students with the opportunity to put counseling and human services theory, concepts, skills, and knowledge into practice at an approved counseling and human services agency. Students will complete a placement within their area of specialized concentration and conduct direct service activities to further grow and develop their skills (e.g., Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Alcohol and Drug Counseling). This experience requires a minimum of at least 180 hours supervised on-site hours. Students will work closely with an academic instructor and peers in an online seminar throughout their practicum experience.
Prerequisites: At the time of registration, the student must have a GPA of 3.00 or better, Students with less than a 3.00 will not be allowed to register for the course at that time.

Concentration-specific course prerequisites prior to practicum registration:

Clinical Mental Health concentration: HSV 520 and/or HSV 521 and HSV 524
Alcohol and Drug Counseling concentration: HSV 532 and one core course

Course prerequisites needed for all concentrations:

Must have a supervisor with a minimum of a master's level in the field. If seeking licensure, supervisor must meet state's requirements.
Must be in a placement that expressly fits with the student's area of concentration.
Student must have a GPA of 3.00 or higher when applying for the practicum.

Students in the Clinical, and Alcohol and Drug Counseling concentrations will spend a minimum of 180 hours on site during this experience. Forty of these hours should be considered direct client contact service hours (e.g., face-to-face counseling/psychotherapy) and the remaining 140 indirect hours (e.g., staff meetings, clinical documentation, trainings, etc.). Students are encouraged to exceed the minimum direct service hours during this experience. All activities must be documented in order to receive credit for these hours.
Please note that students who are seeking licensure should confirm that their training experience meets all necessary guidelines. Additionally, students whose concentration of study is NPM are not required to provide direct client contact hours and will meet the training guidelines outlined for this experience.