Description:
The Genesis Therapy Center offers a 10-12 month counseling practicum placement for pre-doctoral students and doctoral students in clinical psychology.

The clients served by students will be children, adolescents and adults; individuals, couples and families. In addition, there are several on-going groups which students will be expected to co-lead: social skills groups for children, parent support groups for families and STEP for parents and other programs. Students will also be involved in The Genesis Therapy Center’s schools’ program which involves regular work within a school setting providing psychoeducational resources on drug and alcohol abuse prevention, violence prevention as well as individual and group counseling.

Student trainees will commit a minimum of 3 days to The Genesis Therapy Center. Students need to be available on all Thursday mornings for Genesis staff meetings, group supervision and consultations which are held on this day. In addition, each student needs to be available on Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. for participation in the schools’ program. Students will also need to commit to Saturdays for one quarter in order to co-lead social skills groups. The other day/days can be negotiated between the needs of the student and the needs of Genesis in terms of client hours. The practicum will start with a six hour orientation on Saturday, August 13, 2011. The practicum will last through the second week of June (longer if more direct service hours are needed). Time off from the practicum may include holidays and sick days as needed.

Interns at Genesis must have the ability to work autonomously and be self-directed in addition to being able to work as part of a team. They also must be able to get to a variety of our locations throughout the Chicago Metro area.

Training: Direct Service Activities

Psychotherapy: (7-9 outpatient hours per week not including client hours in the schools): Student trainees will be encouraged to carry several long-term psychotherapy cases as a way of gaining a more intensive clinical experience. Building gradually, the student trainee will be expected to carry a caseload of 7-9 individuals or couples per week.

Intake (up to 1 per week)

Outreach (1-2 hrs. per week): With the assistance of staff, students will help plan, develop and present brief workshops that address issues relevant to the sites where we are located. In addition, students will be expected to participate in community expos/health fairs and with our annual KidPower benefit.

Group psychotherapy (1-2 hrs. per week): Students will be expected to co-lead the various on-going groups at Genesis: Social skills groups for children, parent support groups, STEP, etc. (This will probably necessitate working on Saturday mornings at least one quarter.)

Training: Clinical Training Activities

Supervision: Students will receive one hour of individual supervision per week. In addition, they will be expected to participate in the intern supervision group which will meet three times/month for one and a half hours for a total of 4 ½ hours per month.

Supervision Schedule: