Clinical intern/trainee information

Agency Description

Almaden Valley Counseling Service (AVCS) is a private, non-profit counseling agency committed to meeting the mental health concerns of all people with an emphasis on youth. AVCS offers counseling services at our clinic to ALL AGES – children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Our full range of services are offered on a sliding-scale fee basis and our goal is to promote personal growth, positive family relationships and emotional well-being. Our Counselor on Campus (COC) program provides school-site counseling to students at local elementary, middle and high schools.

Internship Program

The AVCS internship program offers trainees or registered interns the opportunity to accrue required hours to become Marriage and Family Therapists. Interns provide services to both agency clients (children/teens/individual adults/couples/families) and on-site at local public schools (elementary/middle/high school) in our Counselor on Campus (COC) program. Our supervisors are licensed MFTs with active private practices.

The Intern Can Expect To:

Commit to 18-20 hours per week working with agency and school-site clients. These hours will include 1-2 days per week at a school site and 12+ client hours at the agency. The majority of agency clinical hours are in the late afternoon and evening, however daytime and Saturday hours are available. At least one evening is required.
Teach a parenting class based on Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP).
Attend 2 hours of Group Supervision once a week. One hour/week of Individual Supervision is scheduled at the convenience of the supervisor and the intern.
Attend periodic Trainings and Staff Meetings typically held once a month on Fridays.

Requirements:

Interns must be Masters level counseling or clinical psychology students enrolled in a graduate school program or a registered interns working on hours toward licensure.
Placements are for a full year typically starting in September.
Trainees and Interns provide their own malpractice insurance.

Benefits of Working at AVCS

Gain a variety of experience in both a school and agency setting. Our clients present with a broad range of issues giving the intern the opportunity to work with many presenting problems. The agency setting is conducive to therapy with individuals, couples and/or families. The school site provides interns with the chance to provide outreach, assessment, referral, and crisis management as well as short-term counseling.
Excellent supervision is provided by licensed MFTs working from various theoretical orientations. We are also committed to providing high-quality trainings on a regular basis.
Most of our trainees and interns are planning on entering private practice upon licensure. AVCS is set up to support this goal by giving interns the responsibility for scheduling sessions and collecting payment from the agency clients. After licensure, we rent office space at a reasonable rate to help newly licensed therapists get their practices started.
Interns receive a yearly stipend. Trainees are not paid.