Pre-Internship Training Opportunities for Psychology Doctoral Students
The Towson University Counseling Center provides training through its Externship Program
to students enrolled in doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology,
pastoral, or related fields. Students in the program have opportunities to provide
personal counseling and offer outreach and consultation services to the campus community.
There may also be an optional opportunity to teach a career development course. The
Counseling Center provides intensive individual and group supervision to externs to
facilitate the development of their clinical skills and their understanding of the
operation of a university counseling center. Students are asked to commit one academic
year to the Externship Program to maximize the benefits to their professional growth.
Individual Clients
Externs carry individual caseloads according to their personal training goals averaging
8-10 client hours per week. Externs work with their supervisors to create a caseload to accommodate their training
needs.
Individual and Group Supervision
Senior staff provide one hour per week of individual supervision and one hour of group
supervision to externs in the fall semester. Senior staff and doctoral interns provide
two hours of individual supervision per week in the spring semester. Supervision includes
discussion of case management, assessment and treatment issues, and general issues
pertaining to each extern’s Counseling Center experience. Rotation of supervisors
occurs at the half-year mark. Matching of externs and supervisors will attempt to
take into account the special training needs of individual externs.
Extern Seminar
Externs meet as a group once a week for one hour with the externship coordinator.
Seminar time includes case conferences, presentations by senior staff and doctoral
interns on topics of special interest to externs, and discussions of general externship
issues.
Outreach and Consultation
Externs will be involved in facilitating outreach programs. Examples of outreach and
consultation programs include student development workshops, orientation workshops,
and liaison programs with the residence hall staff and the Center for Student Diversity.
Group Therapy
As opportunities become available, externs may choose to co-lead a therapy or psychoeducational
group with a staff member or doctoral intern. Externs who co-lead groups will be provided
with additional supervision by the group co-leader, or by another staff member if
the co-leader is an intern. See the Counseling Groups page for examples of groups offered at the Counseling Center.
Teaching
Externs may have an opportunity to teach a two-credit academic course entitled Personal
Life and Career Planning. The course is structured, sequential and developmental in
nature. Supervision is provided by the Career Center for this activity.
Eligibility of Externs
The externship is designed for students who are enrolled in a doctoral program in
clinical psychology, counseling psychology, pastoral counseling, or related fields,
and who have completed at least one practicum in counseling.
Application Procedures
Send a letter of interest, a current resume listing all relevant work experience and
practica, a graduate transcript, and two letters of reference, including at least
one from a supervisor familiar with your clinical work, to the address below:
Please submit applications by February 21, 2018.
Betty A. Fletcher, Ph.D - Externship Program Coordinator
Counseling Center
Towson University
8800 York Road
Towson, MD 21252-0001
Contact Information
