Pre-Doctoral Residency in Psychology program
The Waterloo Region Psychology Consortium (WRPC) has been formed by a consortium of six partners including Lutherwood (the host agency), University of Waterloo Campus Wellness, Centre for Mental Health Research and Treatment, the Waterloo Region District School Board, Homewood Health Centre, and The Psychology Practice of Drs. Doering, Torrance-Perks, Drugovic, Lawrence, Aquino & Associates. For more information about the Waterloo Region Psychology Consortium (WRPC), see the Lutherwood website.
Counselling Services - Master level internship program
Accepting applications for the 2023-2024 academic year from November 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023.
The Counselling Services Clinical Training Program has been operating for over 25 years! We are pleased and excited at your interest and we invite you to spend some time familiarizing yourself with our clinical training program described here.
Description
University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada’s technology hub, has become a leading comprehensive university with 36,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Consistently ranked Canada’s most innovative university, Waterloo is home to advanced research and teaching in science and engineering, health, environment, arts and social sciences.
At Counselling Services, we strive to uphold virtues of inclusion and sensitivity in our work with a wonderfully diverse clientele. We are committed to recognizing, addressing, and responding to the diverse needs and worldviews of both our interns and our clients who vary according to culture, ethnicity, racial background, religion and spirituality, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, and socioeconomic status. Consistent with many other buildings across campus, our offices are wheelchair accessible.
To accommodate the varying needs of our diverse student population Counselling Services offers a variety of options to assist clients in achieving their goals. We offer short-term one on one therapy, workshops, group therapy, seminars, and walk-in therapy. We operate under a short-term treatment model with representation from a range of theoretical orientations including humanistic, cognitive-behavioural, solution-focused, mindfulness, feminist, narrative perspectives and many others.
We are a multi-disciplinary department of social workers, psychotherapists and psychologists within Counselling Services. Our department is under the umbrella of the Campus Wellness department that is comprised of Counselling Services, Health Services, Health Promotion and Occupational Health. Each person on our team plays an integral role to the functioning of Campus Wellness and is considered a highly valued member.
Philosophy
The Counselling Services clinical training program is designed to foster growth and development of interns and residents within the context of a supportive team learning environment. Our aim is to work together as a service to help individuals hone solid clinical skills (for example, establishing empathic therapeutic relationships, interviewing, assessment, case formulation, intervention, etc.) tailored to individual needs and learning objectives while maintaining the utmost respect for the needs of our clientele.
Levels of training
This placement proudly opens its doors to students in training from a wide variety of educational backgrounds (Master's or Doctoral level students in Counselling Psychology, Social Work, and other counselling/psychology/psychotherapy - related disciplines). We have found this diversity provides a rich learning experience not only for our students in training but our entire team.
Qualification requirements
- Currently in/ or completed a master level Counselling, Psychotherapy or Social work accredited program
- Completion of at least one theory course in counselling
- Completion of a practical counselling skills course (or equivalent experience)
- ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) would be an asset
Additional consideration
- A demonstrated interest in working with youth and young adults in a clinical capacity
- Available to work 3-5 days a week for the duration of internship placement
- Available for an eight-month placement (Beginning of September to the end of April)
- Previous work or volunteer experience in the mental health field
- Comfort level with recording via web cam for supervisors to listen and provide clinical feedback
- Comfort with sharing an office space with other interns from various programs
- Interest in providing walk-in sessions or single session therapy to clients
- Some evening hours may be required
How to apply
Please complete the application form and include the following:
- Cover letter
- Resume / CV (Curriculum Vitae)
- Unofficial transcript (must have all courses taken to date with marks received)
Those offered a placement with the University of Waterloo will be asked to provide a current (in the last six months) Police Vulnerable Sector Check on their first day of placement in September.
What to expect
- Individual counselling: Training experiences typically focus on individual counselling with a broad range of clients and issues (for example, relationship concerns, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief); which is similar to what might be seen in an outpatient counselling service. Typically, interns might have 3 - 4 clinical hours per day, which include one on one psychotherapy, workshops, or other training experiences that interns have chosen.
- Groups/workshops: Annually, Counselling Services offers a broad range of personal growth and psycho-educational workshops to complement a variety of needs and interests. Intern involvement in any of our groups is encouraged.
- Supervision: Interns can expect to receive 1 – 1.5 hours of weekly individual supervision with their primary supervisor. In addition, interns are invited to participate in group supervision, as well as informal peer consultation with co-interns and Counselling Services staff.
- Additional training experiences: Interns are included in a variety of additional training experiences such as training seminars, professional development events, case consultations and staff meetings.
Selection process
Please note, we are now accepting applications for Masters Level Internships for the academic year 2022-23.
The following process will be followed:
- Interview: If selected for an interview, you will be contacted and invited to meet with our staff to discuss suitability and your potential learning objectives..
- Reference and background check: We may call your institution to inquire about your courses or your references to inquire about your placement suitability.
- Selection: Once the selection process has been completed, successful candidate(s) will be notified by email.
- Onboarding: Successful candidates who choose to accept the offer of a placement will be expected to engage in our onboarding program including all programming training.
Melissa Strachan
Associate Director, Counselling Services
University of Waterloo
519-888-4567 ext. 41358
