ACA Blog

Busy with internship and last stretch of graduate school. Trying to keep family going smoothly while earning some money. Might as well be turning water into wine or tin into gold. Wanna write – need to write – not writing.

In Part 1 of “What’s Wrong with the Counseling Intern Picture?”, I made clear that the way counselors-in-training approach the internship phase of their programs needs changing. I’d now like to turn our attention to what needs changing in Professional Counseling culture toward young people in general, and especially toward counseling interns.

Frequently, I get contacts from students panicked, sometimes legitimately, over one internship thing or another. I try to help in any way I can, but often, my answers may have a similar ring to them. It lead me to start wondering, both from the perspective of counseling interns and the perspective of the counseling industry’s culture toward them, what is wrong with this picture?

Congratulations! You’re at the point in your graduate program where you get to choose a topic for your doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis. Yea! All those classes…all those dollars spent on tuition…the pages upon pages of mind-numbing journal articles…now you finally get to choose a topic for the final requirement necessary to hang that degree on the wall! You’re energized. You’re ready to get started on your research. You have some interests in mind. Now to choose your topic…easy right? Not always so, as I learned this past year.

This was a quote that I heard during my masters program several years ago now, and it has stuck with me ever since. Whether we are working with a client, supervisee, or student or in our personal lives, this can be applied. Of course, as with any words of advice, it is easier said than done. Several examples come to mind in my work with all those listed above.

Over the past few years it dawned on me that there are close to 1000 counseling education programs in the US – over 600 of them CACREP-accredited. That’s tremendous! What’s more, literally every student in every program must go through an internship. The American Counseling Association estimates that it has approximately 20,000 student members! Yet, for all of these realities, until now there has been no resource on the web for students to find counseling internships. That just didn’t seem right.

Slips of the tongue happen for most of us way more frequently than we would like. When we find ourselves in a new place (e.g., Kenya) and with a different language base (e.g., Kiswahili and UK-influenced English), the slips just seem to multiply exponentially.

Well, the end of the semester came and went last week, and little by little, I’m sifting through everything I have learned and experienced. (And I took some time out to bake some Christmas cookies, too!) With a new job, an internship, and a whole new city, that meant a lot of sifting. Here’s what I’m taking away from this semester.

I am interning as a domestic violence and sexual assault counselor. The work is challenging and difficult, but rewarding. I’ve noticed one thing, however – Ever want to stop the conversation on a dime at a cocktail party? - just mention that you are a domestic violence and sexual assault counselor. While out trying to relax and have fun at a party I have tried to give the pat answer of “I am a counselor” in response to the inevitable question, “What do you do?” – but I can’t keep my passion down and I need to share what I am actually doing for a living and what I am so passionate about it. I am often faced with a blank stare or a “I could never do that kind of work,” and this is often the end of the conversation. Don’t get me wrong! Occasionally I do get an interested conversation partner and we have a great exchange and we both learn something from each other (don’t you just love when that happens?) But usually after I say what I do all that fills the air is the sound of crickets.

Oh, what a difference a year makes! This time last year I was fervently submitting my applications for PhD programs in Counselor Education & Supervision. I was comfortably living in Southern California, where I have resided my entire life, working as a professional school counselor. How could I and why should I consider leaving my nest? Well, first of all, the notion of burnout was prevailing in my life. I found myself thinking “I do love my career. However, if I ever want to do this again, I need to get out now.” So, thus a contributing factor to my desire to reach for future goals.