Fieldwork General Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Fieldwork Requirements

Bring Your Course Work to Life

Fieldwork, including internships and practica, are training experiences designed to give you professional on-site instruction and experience under the close direction of the site supervisor and the Capella faculty instructor. You will commit to part-time practice delivering services through direct contact hours while completing online practicum and internship courses. As you complete your fieldwork, you will be continually evaluated and given appropriate learning experiences to ensure that core theories and skills are well understood and effectively put into practice.

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Fieldwork Requirements

Your Master’s program fieldwork requirements are based on CACREP standards and include 100 hours of practicum and 600 hours of internship. The practicum and internship experiences are devoted to learners practicing specific clinical skills, including interviewing, assessment, intervention, documentation, and consultation in agencies, clinics, and other organizations that provide mental health counseling services.

Internship

The internship requires 600 hours of professional work experience. These hours must be fulfilled across two or three quarters (20–36 weeks.) You’ll be asked to accrue a minimum of 240 hours of direct contact with clients in addition to meeting with your on-site supervisor at least 12 hours each quarter. You’ll also need to complete 10 hours of facilitating or co-facilitating group counseling.

Fieldwork Settings

You will be responsible for locating a site that can provide the types of activities, numbers of clients, and supervision needed to meet your program's fieldwork requirements, as well as any specific fieldwork requirements of your state licensure board.

The type of setting you use for your fieldwork experience will depend on the requirements for your specific program. You will locate settings in your community for the fieldwork component of your programs; fieldwork sites and supervisors must be approved by Capella to ensure all program requirements and accreditation standards are met.

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