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Internship Requirements

Marriage and Family Therapy students are required to register for a minimum of 9 semester hours of internship, to be complete over a 12 month period. The internship requires a minimum of 15 hours per week, of which 8-10 hours must be spent providing individual, marital and/or family therapy. Interns must complete a minimum of 300 hours of face to face contact with individuals, couples and families of the purpose of assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Interns must complete 100 hours of supervision, of which 50 must be individual supervision and 25 hours of supervision must be direct supervision (direct observation, videotape or audiotape)The program maintains a list of approved internship sites, although new sites will also be considered for approval.

Students registered for internship must receive at least one hour of supervision per week from an agency supervisor who has been approved by the Marriage and Family Therapy Program. Agency supervisors must meet one of the following criteria:

1. A mental health practitioner designated as an approved supervisor by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy to supervise the clinical practice of marriage and family therapists; or

2. A licensed marriage and family, rehabilitation counselor, educational psychologist, mental health counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist, who holds a masters degree in either social work, marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, educational psychology, counseling or an equivalent field; or holds a doctorate degree in psychology, or a medical degree with a sub-specialization in psychiatry, and who:

a. has had primary supervision responsibility for two practitioners providing marriage and family therapy for a period of two years or the equivalent; or

b. holds either a teaching or supervisory position in a recognized educational institution, institute or agency which trains marriage and family therapists, provides clinical services to individuals, couples and families on a regular basis, or offers graduate degrees in marriage and family therapy or a related field.

Students also meet weekly with a faculty supervisor for 1 1/2 hours in an internship seminar. They are required to maintain a weekly journal of their fieldwork experiences, taking care to protect client confidentiality. Students must provide direct examples of their work, including two audio/video tapes and one written family case assessment.

Other written requirements include an internship contract and an internship record form to be completed by the student, an agency affiliation agreement, and an hours verification form to be completed at the end of the internship year.

Site visits are conducted once per semester and supervisors are asked to complete a student evaluation at the end of each term.