PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision Field Experience:

Find a Site and Supervisor

For this domain, you will participate in an advanced clinical experience beyond or in addition to practicum, such as pursuing a unique or advanced certification in a clinical specialty area. Your experience should meet some or all the following CACREP training standard(s):

• Incorporate advanced theories relevant to counseling.
• Demonstrate conceptualization of clients from multiple theoretical perspectives.
• Apply evidence-based counseling practices.
• Adapt methods for evaluating counseling effectiveness.
• Incorporate ethical and culturally relevant counseling in multiple settings.

For this domain, you will provide clinical supervision grounded in your personal evidence-based supervision approach. Your experience should meet some or all the following CACREP training standard(s):

• Demonstrate skills of clinical supervision.
• Develop and apply a personal style of supervision.
• Employ the assessment of supervisees’ developmental level.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the application of modalities of clinical supervision and use of technology.
• Practice evaluation, remediation, and gatekeeping in clinical supervision.
• Incorporate legal and ethical issues and responsibilities in clinical supervision.
• Adapt culturally relevant strategies for conducting clinical supervision.

For this domain, you will apply your pedagogical approach to your instructional role for graduate-level counseling students. Your experience should meet some or all the following CACREP training standard(s):

• Apply specific pedagogy and teaching methods in counselor education.
• Participate in instructional and curriculum design, delivery, and evaluations methods in counselor education.
• Develop effective approaches for online instruction.
• Employ screening, remediation, and gatekeeping functions relevant to teaching.
• Implement assessment of learning.
• Demonstrate ethical and culturally relevant strategies in counselor preparation.
• Practice mentoring in counselor education.

For this domain, you will apply ethical and culturally relevant research and scholarship approaches to an identified research and scholarship project. Your experience should meet some or all the following CACREP training standard(s):

• Implement research designs appropriate to quantitative and qualitative research questions.
• Apply models and methods of instrument design.
• Produce professional writing for journal and newsletter publication.
• Create and submit professional conference proposal(s).
• Design and evaluate research proposals for a human subjects/institutional review board review.
• Produce and submit grant proposals and other sources of funding.
• Demonstrate ethical and culturally relevant strategies for conducting research.

For this domain, you will apply ethical and culturally relevant leadership and advocacy practices. Your experience should meet some or all the following CACREP training standard(s):

• Participate in leadership and leadership development in professional organizations.
• Exhibit leadership in counselor education programs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of accreditation standards and processes.
• Practice leadership, management, and administration in counseling organizations and other institutions.
• Establish leadership roles and strategies for responding to crises and disasters.
• Incorporate the role of counselors and counselor educators advocating on behalf of the profession and professional identity.
• Apply models and competencies for advocating for clients at the individual, system, and policy levels.
• Implement strategies of leadership in relation to current multicultural and social justice issues.

Updates to the webinar:

• The email address for Counseling Field Experience is counselingfield@mail.waldenu.edu

Search Walden University Affiliation Agreements

In your Meditrek account, you have access to a list of all of the current affiliation agreements that Walden University has with various field sites around the country and around the world.

To access the list:

1. Log into Meditrek.
2. Select "Search Affiliation Agreements"
3. Select "Counseling" in the School dropdown. Also consider selecting other programs (Psychology, Social Work) in this dropdown to see additional potentially viable sites. We don't recommend using the "Program" dropdown in most cases, as this may limit the options displayed more than necessary. Do keep in mind, though, that some sites are appropriate for some counseling programs and not others (i.e. schools).
4. Enter your city and/or state to see the active agreements that Walden University has with potential field sites in your area.
5. Before you contact the site, do an internet search to determine what type of organization it is and if they might have opportunities that would be appropriate for your counseling program.

Contact Customer Care for assistance with logging into Meditrek, and email socassessment@mail.waldenu.edu for other Meditrek support.

Disclaimer - Please Read

The Walden Affiliation Agreement Database includes all the active agreements that Walden University has with various field sites throughout the university. Walden actively pursues affiliation agreements with new field sites whenever possible, so please contact the appropriate field experience representative for your program to discuss options if your desired field site is not listed here. Some field sites may not be appropriate for some programs/specializations and an active agreement between Walden and the field site will not require a site to take on any particular Walden student, as space and programs may be limited. You will need to work directly with the field site to ensure their willingness and ability to take you on as a student during the time period that aligns with your course. You will also need to complete the application process as required for your program. The presence of an active agreement with a field site does not imply an automatic approval of your field experience plans.

Internet Resources

Lead Opportunities

To generate some additional networking opportunities—the individuals listed on the Psychology Today website may not be bringing on interns, but they may have leads for agencies or people in your area that are.

Accredited Sites

To generate lists of accredited sites* in your area visit:

• The Joint Commission
• Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
• Council on Accreditation

To find behavioral health treatment providers in your area visit:

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Find Treatment Centers

Networking

Similar to a job search, networking can be enormously helpful in securing a field experience site.

• Network with people in your community.
• Volunteer.
• Network with clergy (if member of faith community reach out to clergy to learn sites members are referred to for counseling services).
• Go to community events and network (e.g. health fairs because they will have service providers onsite).
• Get counseling service referral information from NAMI.
• Network with Walden University faculty members.
• Communicate with students who reside in the same area to see where they have found success.
• Join and become involved in state and national professional associations, such as the following:
  • American Counseling Association.
  • American School Counseling Association.
  • American Mental Health Counselors Association.
  • State counseling associations.
  • Divisions closely aligned with your specialty area.
• Walden Career Planning and Development Resources:
  • Networking and Branding: tips for building your network.
  • Walden Career Connections networking events - online networking events or Drop-In Advising with the Career Planning and Development team.
  • Career Planning and Development Field Experience Resources.

It can be intimidating to initially reach out to a potential field site, but your perseverance will pay off in the end! We recommend reaching out in a different way if you do not get a response on your first attempt (i.e. a phone call if you do not get a response via email after waiting an appropriate length of time). Please find some tips below to assist you in knowing how to prepare and what to say when reaching out:

General Tips

• Do your homework: make sure you brush up on what the Walden requirements are and how this placement would fit those requirements. Also, make sure to do some background research on the site!
• Make an appointment with Career Planning and Development for additional insight and tips
• Say "Thank you!"

Via Email

• Skills First: check out sample letters in the Letter Builder under "Field Experience Inquiry"
• Proofread: Make sure your spelling and punctuation are correct!
• Let the site know why you are interested in them in particular - what is it about them that makes you excited to be a part of it?
• How would you contribute? How would your knowledge and experience help you make a good addition to the site?

Via Phone

• Know who to contact: If the site does not have a direct number for internship inquiries, you would need to state what you are interested in and ask for the appropriate contact person.
  • Example: "Hello, my name is ____ and I am interested in a (practicum/internship) at (site name) for the (quarter). Do you know who I might speak to?"
• Be prepared: have a good sense of what you are going to say before picking up the phone (see tips above).
• Take a deep breath and envision this first contact going well.
• Be sure to leave a voice message if you do not get an answer. Let them know what you are interested in and what the start date for your potential field experience would be. Give contact information.

Updates to the webinar:

• The email address for Counseling Field Experience is counselingfield@mail.waldenu.edu

Here are some interviewing tips from Walden's Student Wellness and Disability Services for students with disabilities:

• Don’t disclose disability unless you need to request an accommodation to do your job.
  • This is probably the most critical point that is ignored by your students because they think they will be MORE valuable as employees if they share that they have their own personal experiences with disability.  Unless the application materials specifically say experience as a person with a disability is a “plus” they should avoid disclosing disability.  They can always do it later, maybe in an interview (if it comes up and seems to be a positive thing).   But, really, the best practice is simply not to disclose at all.   Even people in health fields have misconceptions about how challenging it would be to have an employee with a disability.
• If you need an accommodation for your job but not the application/interview process, don’t disclose until the job offer has been made.  Then, only disclose as much as necessary to secure the necessary accommodation.
• If you need an accommodation during the application/interview process (for example, a wheelchair accessible room or a sign language interpreter), present that information in a professional way – simply referencing the need for access.  Don’t let disability be the focus of the application process.  Address it, get the accommodation needed for access, and move on to the more important information about why you are right for the job. 
• Try in every way possible to keep the focus on skills and abilities and not a disability or an accommodation.
• If experience with disability appears to be a favorable thing, present the experience as having been a learning one that adds to knowledge base.  Focus on professional management of disability as a skill developed over time - and not the disability itself.
• Contact Career Planning and Development to request disabilites-related interview coaching.

The SOC-OFE holds a weekly drop-in Q&A sessions for general questions and information related to field experience.

• Mondays 12:00pm-1:00pm ET
• Tuesdays 1:00pm-2:00pm ET
• Wednesdays 11:00am-12:00pm ET
• Thursdays 11:00am-12:00pm ET

**You do not need to be present for the entire call - please feel free to drop in at any time during the hour to get your questions answered.**

Individualized Site Search Support