SOC-OFE Doctoral Students - Field Experience Manual:

Internship Requirements

For Internship I, all students are required to complete a one-quarter, 200-hour, advanced clinical (Counseling domain) experience. Internship I consists of site-based counseling experiences, as well as weekly supervision, and coursework.

Internships II and III are each one-quarter, 200-hour experiences in multiple domains. Students will be assigned experiences in the Teaching and Supervision domains and will be required to secure their own experience(s) to meet the remaining hourly requirements for each quarter of the experience (see PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision Domains).

 

You are required to participate at your field site throughout the duration of your enrollment in Internship I, regardless of when you complete the required hours for the experience. Students are not permitted to start late, end early, or skip any week during the quarter. Participation at your field site includes at least 1 hour of supervision with your Walden-approved site supervisor (see Site Supervision) each and every week and at least 1 direct and indirect hour for each week of the quarter. The only exception to the minimum requirement for direct hours would be during the first two weeks of Internship I while the student is in training or orientation. If direct hours cannot be accrued at any point during enrollment, students should consult with their faculty supervisor.

Internship I (one term) requires the completion of at least

• 200 total hours (includes direct hours, supervision hours, and other indirect hours),
• 10 individual/triadic supervision hours with the Walden-approved site supervisor (for each quarter of enrollment), and
• 15 hours of faculty group supervision (for each quarter of enrollment).

Note: You cannot "bank" extra Internship I hours for Internship II and III. Each course requires a minimum of 200 hours.

Internship II (one term) and Internship III (one term) each require the completion of at least the following for each quarter of enrollment

• 200 total hours,
• 100 teaching hours
• 15 supervision hours provided
• 30 hours from Intensive, if earned while enrolled in an internship course.
  • Intensive I should be completed during Internship II and Intensive II should be completed during Internship III.
• 10 triadic supervision hours received from the Walden-assigned triadic supervisor, and
• 15 hours of faculty group supervision received.

Documentation of Internship Hours

You are required to keep a daily record of internship hours in the Meditrek® time log. You are encouraged to enter hours in Meditrek® every day, and all hours for the week must be entered in Meditrek® by Day 7 of each week of the quarter. Hours must be entered on the date corresponding to the date on which they were earned. You cannot log internship hours prior to earning them. Daily time log entries must be approved by both site/triadic and faculty supervisors to count toward field experience requirements. Detailed information and instructions for the Meditrek® time log are available in the Meditrek® Student Guide.

Note: Direct service hours in the Counseling domain include those that use graduate-level counseling skills with actual clients. Direct service hours that are not of a counseling nature or not at the graduate level should be logged as "Other Indirect Hours" on the Meditrek® time log.

Faculty Group Supervision

You are required to participate in a 2-hour faculty group supervision videoconference with your classmates and faculty supervisor during each week of enrollment in internship, for a total of at least 15 hours during each quarter.

• Attendance at all faculty group supervision videoconference calls is expected, even if total group supervision hours exceed 15 hours during the quarter.
• You must attend faculty supervision via both audio and video at the designated time. You are required to adjust your schedule to accommodate the faculty group supervision videoconference, as needed.
• You will earn weekly points for attendance, professionalism, and participation on the faculty group supervision call.
• Your Faculty Group Supervision Contract, which outlines the roles and responsibilities of you and your faculty supervisor for the field experience, must be complet (signed by bothy you and your faculty supervisor) for you to participate in faculty group supervision.

Note for International Students: Like all students in field experiences, international students are required to participate in weekly videoconference group supervision. You will need to plan accordingly for any time zone differences.

Internship I Site Supervision

You are required to participate in at least 1 hour of supervision with your Walden-approved site supervisor during each week of enollment in Intenrship I, for a total of at least 10 hours for the quarter. It is strongly recommended that supervision be scheduled for the same day and time each week. The Walden-approved site supervisor must perform the weekly supervision for the hours to count toward the required supervision hours. You will submit a site supervision contract in your application for field experience outlining the roles and responsibilities of you and your site supervisor for the field experience.

Site supervision must be:

• Either individual (just you and the site supervisor) or triadic (you, your site supervisor, and no more than one other student). Group supervision cannot be substituted for this requirement.
• Continuous (the 1 hour of weekly supervision cannot be divided into shorter sessions).
• Live, either in person or videoconference (telephone supervision without a video component will not meet this requirement).

Note: If you see clients during the break weeks in between quarters, you must have weekly supervision from the Walden-approved site supervisor to count those direct hours.

Internship II and III Site Supervision

If you are completing an experience in the Counseling domain during Internship II or III, you need to have regular supervision with your identified site supervisor.

Triadic Supervision

You will be assigned a Walden faculty member, knows as the “triadic supervisor,” who will coordinate individual and/or triadic supervision while you are enrolled in internship. Your triadic supervisor will maintain communication with site contacts identified at your field sites and will use their feedback, as well as your work samples and information provided by you in weekly supervision, to support you in weekly supervision.

You are required to participate in at least 1 hour of supervision with your triadic supervisor during each week of enrollment in internship, for a total of at least 10 hours for each quarter. count toward the required supervision hours.

Triadic supervision must be:

• Continuous (the 1 hour of required weekly supervision cannot be divided into shorter sessions) and
• Live, either in person or via videoconference (telephone supervision without a video component will not meet this requirement).

The following evaluations are required for each quarter of enrollment in internship:

• Mid-Quarter Evaluation completed by your Walden-approved site supervisor (Internship I)/triadic supervisor (Internship II and III) in Meditrek® by the end of Week 5.
• Mid-Quarter Evaluation completed by your faculty supervisor in Meditrek®.
• End-of-Quarter Evaluation completed by the end of Week 10 by your Walden-approved site supervisor (Intenrship I)/triadic supervisor (Internship II and III) in Meditrek®.
• End-of-Quarter Evaluation completed by your faculty supervisor in Meditrek® after your site/triadic supervisor has completed their end-of-quarter evaluation.

The field experience courses consist of discussions, quizzes, skills demonstrations, and application assignments, similar to other courses in your program.

Note: Submitting any work for course assignments that has already been submitted for prior courses is considered plagiarism and will result in an academic integrity violation.

Internship Work Sample Policy

You will be required to provide at least three samples of your work during each term of enrollment in internship, reflective of your selected internship domains. This policy allows you to identify areas of progress and areas of needed improvement in your internship experiences, as well as to receive instruction from your triadic and faculty group supervisors. You will work with your faculty group supervisior to determine work samples that are appropriate and proportional to your Individual Internship Plan at the start of each term. Your faculty or triadic supervisor may require more than three work samples, if deemed necessary, for support or evaluation.

Recording and Alternative Assignment Policy

You will be required to submit video recordings of three full-length client sessions in Internship I at designated points in the quarter. Video recordings must occur during enrollment in the field experience course. Recordings that occurred prior to enrollment (for example, in a previous term if you are repeating the course) cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.

The client session video recordings should be reviewed in your weekly on-site supervision sessions. This approach allows you to identify areas of needed improvement in a timely manner as well as to receive instrction from your site supervisor to assist with the counseling process. The client session recordings must be submitted in the classroom by the due dates indicated on the syllabus so the course instructor can provide additional feedback.

If you are at a site where video recording is not possible or where submission of recordings cannot be made to the Walden University classroom, you will be required to submit the site's recording policy to your field experience faculty supervisor who will provide you with the alternative assignment. You are expected to be knowledgeable of the recording requirements and inform your site of the recording requirements as part of the interview process.

Informed consent documents for recording purposes must be completed for all session recordings. You can either use site-based recording informed consent documents or templates provided in your field experience classroom at the discretion of the site supervisor.

Notes:

• The camera must always remain on you (and not on the client).
• You must get a signed parental or custodial consent for anyone under the age of 18 regardless of state and agency requirements.
• Recording informed consent forms are not to be submitted in the field experience classroom, as this would constitute a breach in confidentiality. They are for use at the site only and should not be viewed by Walden faculty members. Instead, informed consent documents should remain a part of your record or the client's record at your field site.
• You must delete all recordings from the classroom during Week 11 of each term, after grades and feedback from both videos are received.