Internships

We offer a warm and supportive atmosphere, where creativity is appreciated, and where interns — in addition to clients —are encouraged to build on their strengths. All interns engage in a full schedule of client assessments, resource and referral, intake interviews, and one-on-one counseling. You will have many opportunities to practice the technical aspects of counseling, as well as to develop cultural competency and a personal counseling style. As part of our commitment to organizational transparency and collaboration, we also offer interns the chance to work on agency-wide projects. In addition, we reserve at least one macro space for students who want to focus on nonprofit growth and keep their client caseload to a minimum.

You won’t be in this alone! You’ll have access to supervision in multiple formats:

• group supervision, minimum 3 hours per week;

• one-on-one-supervision with a senior social worker or counselor who has an average of 10-35 years of experience; and

• peer supervision from the many talented therapists sharing the intern office.

Clients, in turn benefit from low worker-client caseloads and affordable services.

We borrow from many research models on best practices in trauma treatment. Our clinical team follows the RICH model of Respect, Information, Connections, and Hope; sensorimotor therapy; and Harry Aponte’s person-of-the-therapist perspective.

Our program is known throughout the area for its excellence. We make an effort to attract students of diverse cultural backgrounds, and have had a number of international student graduates who go on to work at organizations in the United States and beyond.

• COVID-19 vaccinations required, no exemptions

• Counseling and social work graduate students from accredited nonprofit programs/universities

• 3 hours of mandatory group supervision per week (9-12 Wednesdays)

• 1 hour of required individual supervision per week

• Available for a minimum of 2 contiguous semesters, preferably 3

• Able to contribute at least 8 daytime on-site hours out of a weekly minimum of 16-24 hours

• 2 intake/crisis counseling hours per week

• Active participation in peer supervision

• Check with your field office liaison to determine the process for your program. Requirements vary.

• Contact us by email 3-6 months ahead for positions beginning Sept, Jan, and May.

• Email a copy of your statement of purpose (if available) and your resume to our Clinical Director, Katie Kidle <katiek [“at” sign] womenscentersemi.org>. We do not have the capacity to answer phone inquiries.

• We will respond within a week with further details and suggested dates and times for an interview.

• An hour-long interview with 2 staff members and a current intern, if available, will introduce you to The Center and give you a chance to ask questions and share your perspective.

• If you find that our program is a good fit for you (and vice versa), we will follow up by email with a written agreement.

We are an official clinical internship site for students from Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University. We may also consider applications from other accredited programs at not-for-profit universities.

We accept 18-23 graduate students each year in overlapping semester-based rotations. This means that we have as few as 2 and as many as 7 available positions beginning in January, May, and September.

It has been our experience that candidates from under-accredited programs and/or for-profit universities often lack the foundation for a successful internship. Because we want everyone to have a positive experience, we now interview candidates from accredited programs only.

• Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Education Program (CACREP); or

• Council of Social Work Education (CSWE); or

• Commission on Accreditation for Marriage Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE)

We do not support therapist-initiated video or audio recordings of client sessions as part of course requirements. Third-party observations of sessions -- i.e., shadowing -- are not part of our program.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccinations are required for the safety of clients and colleagues; no exemptions allowed.