Undergraduate Internship/Practicum Training Program:

As an agency, we offer the opportunity for training in multiple modes of therapy with youth and families.  Service modalities in day treatment and the early childhood intensive program include individual, group and family therapy as well as milieu and experiential therapies.  We are a multidisciplinary agency and our therapists, minimally, have a master’s degree in psychology, social work or marriage and family therapy.  Our underlying philosophy is strength-based, solution focused while individual therapists utilize therapeutic interventions from cognitive-behavioral, systemic, developmental, and other perspectives.

Mental Health Workers collaborate with therapists to integrate therapeutic activities into the children’s day.  Undergraduate students gain experience documenting skills work, participating in staffings and consultations and supervision sessions.  Those programs with an in-home component allow the student to participate in service provision at this level, accompanying staff to home visits and co-facilitating those sessions.  Additionally, designing and facilitating a group experience would be the goal of most mental health worker internships/practicum.

Supervision is provided by licensed masters and doctoral level staff members.  A student is assigned a primary supervisor who meets weekly with them.  Additionally, other staff members are available to offer both formal and informal supervision as needed.  Students begin their internship/practicum by reviewing their training, strengths and needs with their supervisor.  All students participate in a comprehensive orientation process including an agency overview and program policies.  Internships/practicum begin by observing and shadowing experienced mental health workers and discussing the agency’s philosophy about treatment and service model before beginning direct service provision to clients.

Expectations of Interns/Practicum Students:

·     Students will develop, with their site supervisor, a training agreement and schedule within the first few weeks of their internship/practicum at Family Networks.

·     Students will follow the ethical guidelines of their profession.

·     Students will work as members of multi-disciplinary teams within Family Networks.

·     Students will be oriented to Family Networks’ policies and procedures and are expected to follow them.

·     Students will participate in group supervision and training seminars, as well as participate, regularly, at case conferences at their site.

·     Regular, on-going informal evaluations occur during the training period at Family Networks.  In addition, formal reviews take place with the student and their Family Networks primary supervisor.  The review process follows the Family Networks protocol of gathering information from all staff that has had a supervisory role with the student.  The format of the evaluation itself can follow the student’s training program guidelines.

What you can expect from Family Networks:

·     Family Networks will meet the supervisory requirements of the student’s undergraduate program.  Typically, we are able to offer supervision to junior and senior level students in psychology, social work and allied fields.

·     Supervision is generally provided weekly by the on-site supervisor. In addition, there are group supervision sessions and seminars on clinical topics.  At their site, the student will participate in weekly case reviews and has the opportunity to participate in regular psychiatric case consultations with the consulting psychiatrist.

·     Family Networks offers an opportunity for students to work as part of a multidisciplinary team.

·     Family Networks offers the student an opportunity to work within a collaborative model, as Family Networks participates in collaborations between schools, mental health agencies and Hennepin County.

·     The student will be able to participate in other agency-wide training workshops and seminars.

Selection Process:

·     Interested applicants should complete an application for internship.  Applications are available on line or by contacting Reubenna Cooley at reubennac@familynetworks.org or 763-515-2453.

·     An initial interview is held with the site supervisor would take place before a final selection is made by Family Networks.

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