Supervised Professional Practice

Purpose

The purpose of the rehabilitation counseling pre-practicum, practicum, and internship is to help you develop, under appropriate supervision, your professional competencies in assisting individuals with disabilities to achieve their personal, social, psychological, career, or independent living goals.

Through experiences in real-life settings, you will apply the knowledge, skills and abilities you are learning from your rehabilitation courses. This is an important part of the process for building your confidence, competence and readiness to become a professional rehabilitation counselor.

Requirements

You are required to complete a minimum of 50 hours of pre-practicum, a minimum of 100 hours of practicum, and a minimum of 600 hours of internship. For pre-practicum, it is typical to spend 5-10 hours a week at your site, depending on when you begin the supervised practice experience. During your practicum it is typical to spend 10 hours a week at your supervised professional practice site. The internship usually takes two quarters, during which you are spending about 30 hours a week at the supervised professional practice site if full-time. Depending on where you work, it may be possible to do your pre-practicum, practicum, and/or internship on your current job.

In practicum, your focus is on meeting with and providing counseling to clients of an organization. As an intern, you will learn about and work with all aspects of the organization in serving their clients.

Before you can begin your pre-practicum, you must complete RC 582 (Introduction to RC) and earn a B or better in RC 583 (Theories and Techniques of Rehabilitation Counseling II). You must pass pre-practicum before advancing to practicum. You must pass your practicum before going on to the internship. 

During pre-practicum, practicum, and internship, you will participate in a series of seminars with a faculty supervisor. You will also have weekly meetings with your on-site clinical site supervisor.

Some of the work settings used for pre-practicum, practicum, and internship include community rehabilitation providers, public vocational rehabilitation agency offices, programs for persons with severe and persistent mental illness, organizations serving veterans with disabilities, and supported employment programs.

As you begin to plan for your supervised professional practice coursework, the RC Clinical Coordinator and other faculty will be able to help you find a site that is a good fit for your talents and interests.

Guide

• Supervised Professional Practice Handbook

Ideas for Field Experience Sites

• WA Division of Vocational Rehabilitation offices
• Department of Services for the Blind
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Programs
• Community Rehabilitation Providers
• Centers for Independent Living
• Other agencies in partnership to serve individuals with disabilities

Liability Insurance

In order to protect you in case anything you do is questioned, students are required to buy Student Liability Insurance.  More information will be provided by your Pre-Practicum instructor.