Program Information > Master of Counselling > Practicum > Practicum Placement Guidelines

Practicum Overview

Students in the Master of Counselling program are responsible for making their own practicum arrangements. Your practicum is an integrated sequence of learning activities. The major portion is the field placement, in which you will see clients in a community setting under supervision. The assignments and learning activities complement the field placement. They are sequenced intentionally to address typical issues you will encounter in your placement and to match the rhythm of your progression through the practicum year. Accordingly, it is not possible to compress your practicum or start it at a different time. You will enroll in GCAP 685: Advanced Counselling Practicum, for two semesters (6 credits), commencing in the fall semester each year.

If you entered the program in January 2009 or earlier, and believe you would benefit from additional practicum supervision, you may enroll in GCAP 686 with the permission of the Practicum Coordinator.

Practicum Placement Guidelines

Students in the Master of Counselling program are responsible for approaching practicum sites directly. You can find practicum sites that have previously hosted our students in our database in CASIS, but may develop a practicum placement with any site that meets our requirements as describe in these pages. Please review the prerequisites for students and the requirements that a practicum site must meet before applying for a practicum placement. The following guidelines are designed to assist you in negotiating an appropriate placement

General Expectations
Criteria for Practicum Placements
Criteria for Practicum Supervisors
Collaboration in Learning
Solving Problems During the Practicum Placement

A. General Expectations

If you started as a program student in January 2009 or earlier:

You are required to average 10 hours per week at your practicum site for 26 weeks, and to deliver an average of 5 hours per week of direct client contact. With the permission of your practicum site, you may see clients between the Fall and and Winter semesters. You may also opt to complete the 500 hour practicum listed below.
If you have already completed a 230 hour practicum, you may enroll in GCAP 686 with the permission of the Practicum Coordinator to complete additional hours required for certification or admission to a doctoral program. The number of hours in the practicum will be negotiated between you, the practicum site, and the Practicum Coordinator. You may complete a maxiumum of 250 hours per registration in GCAP 686 (3 credits / one semester). You are permitted to register in this course three times.

If you started as a program student in January 2010 or later

You are required to be on-site for 500 hours and deliver 250 hours of direct client contact.

You will normally complete these hours in the Fall and Winter semesters (26 weeks), in which case you will be on site an average of 19 hours per week, and deliver an average of 9.5 direct client contact hours per week. Under exceptional circumstances, a minimum of 250 hours may be completed during this time period.
If you are unable to complete the full 500 hours from September to April, you may apply for a course extension to complete these hours. Each course extension is for a one month period and is subject to the course extension fee. For example, if you plan to spread your practicum hours out from September to June, this would involve a total of 34 weeks, averaging 15 hours on site and 7.5 direct client contact hours per week.

For all students:

You may see clients as a GCAP practicum student only when registered in a practicum seminar (GCAP 685 or 686). If you see clients outside of registration in a GCAP practicum course, you are not considered GCAP practicum students and are considered a "volunteer" or "intern" in the agency. Under these conditions, you are not covered by Athabasca University's professional liability or WCB coverage. Accordingly, the practicum organization is responsible to provide liability insurance coverage to you when you continue to practice under supervision outside of a GCAP practicum.

Any planned absences from the practicum site must be approved at least one month in advance by the Practicum Supervisor and the Practicum Coordinator.

As a condition of the practicum, some agencies may require students to spend more than the minimum time required by the university, or to participate in activities not required by the university (e.g., training seminars, telephone intake, etc.). This is strictly between the agency and the student, and should be specified on the practicum contract at the time it is initially developed.

Definition of Direct Client Contact

Direct client contact is defined as an activity in which the student interacts face to face with the client(s), and includes:

Individual counselling (see minimum expected hours below);
Family or couples' counselling;
Group counselling;
Active participation in reflecting teams with the client; students may count the time that they spend in the view of the client(s) when they are interacting with them;
Face to face interviewing and/or testing as part of a formal assessment;
Face to face intake sessions, provided the tasks are clinical in nature;
Case conferences when the client is present;
Co-counselling is acceptable provided the student's role is to interact with the client(s), and not simply observe. Generally, co-counselling is a more appropriate activity at the beginning of a placement.

80% of direct client contact should consist of individual counselling.

Case preparation/treatment planning, psychological test interpretation, writing case notes and reports, telephone intake/contact, case conferences and case management activities without the client(s) present, and observing others perform counselling are not considered direct client contact.

You are encouraged to schedule more than the minimum number of client hours each week. This will maximize the likelihood that the total required number of client hours is achieved, taking into consideration cancellations, student illness, or other unexpected circumstances. During the practicum, if you are concerned that you will not achieve the required hours of client contact and supervision by the end of the term, you should raise the issue with your supervisor. You may also consider extending the practicum placement in consultation with your supervisor and course instructor. If the supervisor and instructor agree to an extension to the practicum, you must apply for a course extension and pay the course extension fee, as noted above.

Supervision Hours

You must receive 1 hour of supervision for each 5 hours of direct client contact. At least 50% of supervision must be individual supervision; the rest may be group supervision. At least 50% of supervision hours must be based on direct observation of the your work (live supervision, co-therapy, video- and audiorecording); the rest may be based on case discussion, review of notes, etc.

If, at any time, you are not receiving adequate supervision you must contact your course instructor and the Practicum Coordinator immediately. If a student or agency desires to change his/her supervisor within the same practicum site, this must be approved by the Practicum Coordinator. It is not possible to change practicum sites once the practicum has started.

You are required to video-record some of their counselling sessions for presentation at the weekend seminars. Video-recording clients is done only with the free, informed, and written consent of the client(s), and in accord with the policies of the practicum site. Students are required to discuss with clients who are being video-recorded:

Who will view the recording;
How the recording will be used;
How the recording will be transmitted/transported and stored securely;
What information will be discussed at the weekend seminar;
How long the recording will be retained, and how and when it will be destroyed;
Any questions clients may have about the use of the recordings;
The client's option to revoke consent at any time.

We advise you to video-record as many sessions as possible to desensitize yourself and your clients to recording, have live data for supervision and for your own development, and have a back-up to present at the weekend seminar in case of technical difficulties. You are required to present in DVD or VHS format. Students are required to use the Consent for Video-recording form found on the GCAP website, in addition to any form that may be required by the practicum site.

Students are not allowed to see clients in a practicum placement outside of registration in GCAP 685, 681, or 682. When students see clients in an agency outside of registration in a GCAP practicum course, they are not considered GCAP practicum students, and should be treated as "volunteers" or "interns" in the agency. Accordingly, the organization is responsible to provide liability insurance coverage when students continue to practice under supervision outside of a GCAP practicum.

B. Criteria for Practicum Placements

Selecting a Practicum Site

Appropriate practicum settings include, but are not restricted to:

educational institutions (K-12 and post-secondary),
community counselling agencies,
youth treatment agencies (residential and day treatment),
addictions treatment agencies,
domestic violence support agencies,
inpatient and outpatient mental health services,
health care services that provide psychosocial care,
government departments providing counselling services, and
private practices.

The organization or agency must meet the following criteria:

Provide counselling services to individuals and couples, families or groups. Individual counselling is the primary service that will be emphasized in the practicum. However, services such as assessment, family and couples' counselling, and group counselling are also appropriate.
Employ professional staff who hold a minimum of a Masters' degree in a counselling related discipline, and professional credentials/designations that permit them to practice within their jurisdiction.
Make available an appropriate physical environment (counselling space, work space for administrative duties, secure storage of client records).
Provide necessary administrative infrastructure to process referrals and manage client data.
Have a policy (or agree to GCAP policy) that supports the video-recording of students' counselling for supervision purposes and for presentation at weekend seminars.

Practicum Placements Containing Multiple Relationships

Multiple relationships occur when the parties in the relationship have multiple roles. They should be avoided if possible, but in communities with limited counselling resources, and even more limited resources for clinical supervision, this may not be possible. A multiple relationship could be one where the student is already employed in the practicum site, where the student has a pre-existing personal relationship with a potential practicum supervisor or placement, or where the student is being paid for practicum duties.

Such arrangements may have many potential advantages to you. You can maintain income, develop a career path within an organization, build on and expand collegial relationships in a small communities, etc. These arrangements may also benefit the supervisor or agency. An agency might appreciate dealing with you as a "known entity." If you already know the organization, or even work there, it will not take as much time and effort for the agency to orient you, and your employer could develop and retain you as a valued employee. However, as a student, you would be dependent on the agency for both income and educational support, and you be doubly vulnerable. Furthermore, the needs of the agency and/or pre-existing personal relationships may reduce the supervisors' ability to evaluate you objectively. Finally, the potential for multiple relationships between practicum students and clients increases. If you propose a practicum where a pre-existing relationship exists, your supervisor, the organization, GCAP, and you must carefully consider the implications of multiple relationships in the workplace.

Accordingly, in such situations, in consultation with the proposed supervisor, you are also required to submit an analysis of the potential for problematic multiple relationships and a plan for managing them. This will include, at minimum:

A description of the pre-existing relationship. When you proposes a practicum in your workplace, this must include your current job description, program or work site, reporting relationships, and the reporting relationships of your immediate workplace supervisor;
Proposed duties of the practicum;
In the case of proposed workplace placements, the proposed relationship between the practicum and the pre-existing work assignment. This must include the specific hours during the week dedicated to practicum;
Reporting relationships of the proposed practicum supervisor;
Pre-existing relationship between you and the proposed practicum supervisor;
Potential for client overlap/multiple relationships with clients;
Potential factors that could affect your vulnerability and the agency's objectivity; and
Options for reducing the effect of potential multiple relationships.

The ethical decision-making process in the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists is recommended as a template for this analysis.

The student's analysis and plan must be approved by the Practicum Coordinator. Students considering a practicum placement in their places of work are encouraged to submit their proposals early, and leave themselves ample time to respond to suggested modifications and feedback from the Practicum Coordinator.

GCAP is mindful of our mission to increase access to graduate counsellor education. Approval will not be unreasonably withheld for proposals that adequately address these complex issues.

C. Supervisor Eligibility

Selecting a Practicum Supervisor

In order to be approved, practicum supervisors must possess:

a graduate degree in a counselling-related discipline, approved by the Practicum Coordinator.
a recognized professional designation that permits them to practice counselling or psychotherapy in their jurisdiction, including, but not limited to:

Registered Psychologist (Provincial College of Psychologists); (Note: In some provinces, Provisional Psychologists [or the equivalent registration status] are permitted by law to supervise students, if supervised by a qualified psychologist);
Certified Canadian Counsellor (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association);
Registered Clinical Counsellor (BC Association of Clinical Counsellors);
Clinical Membership (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy);
Authorization for the Restricted Activity of Psychosocial Interventions or Membership on the Clinical Register (Alberta College of Social Workers);
An equivalent provincial or state professional designation/licence approved by the Practicum Coordinator.

a minimum of two years post-Masters professional experience.

Because of the distributed delivery format of the GCAP program, practicum supervisors must also meet the following criteria:

access to a computer meeting Hardware and Software Requirements; and
regular access to email and Internet;

You may work with different professionals in the practicum site. However, the primary responsibility for your development, and for ensuring your competence, will rest with one supervisor. Under the direction of the supervisor, you may observe or work with other members of the setting who do not meet the qualifications of the primary supervisor.

Supervisors Outside the Practicum Setting

You may be supervised by a qualified supervisor who is not an employee of the practicum site. This arrangement must be approved by the, supervisor, practicum site, the Practicum Coordinator, and you. In this situation, you and the supervisor must clearly describe how and when supervision will be provided, the parameters for information sharing, and provisions for emergency supervision. GCAP must ensure that the organization, the supervisor, and GCAP agree on appropriate insurance coverage. Any compensation beyond the honorarium provided by GCAP is entirely between the practicum site, the student, and the supervisor.

D. Collaboration in Learning

The success of the practicum depends on collaboration between you, your supervisor, and practicum instructor. Throughout the field placement, you will be engaged in a weekly online seminar, highlighting various aspects of applied practice. You are also required to attend one four-day intensive, which provides faculty and peer supervision. Practicum supervisors are invited to interact with instructors throughout the practicum placement. The particular responsibilities of each participant in the practicum experience are outlined in the GCAP Practicum Responsibilities and Expectations.

The practicum instructor, in consultation with the practicum supervisor will assign the final grade. In order to receive credit for practicum course, you must satisfactorily complete each of the evaluative components of the course (e.g., discussion forum participation, completion of course assignments, video presentation, practicum evaluation, etc.). Detailed guidelines for formative and summative evaluations will be provided.

E. Solving Problems During the Practicum Placement

On rare occasions, problems can emerge in a practicum. It is important to identify and resolve them as soon as possible.

The first course of action is for the supervisor and student to clarify and attempt to resolve problems identified by the student, supervisor or agency, as soon as possible.
If this is unsuccessful, either the student or the supervisor should approach the Practicum Instructor for assistance.
If there is still dissatisfaction with the practicum on the part of the student, the supervisor, or the agency, a review of the placement will be conducted by the Practicum Coordinator. In consultation with the student, the supervisor, and the course instructor, the Practicum Coordinator will recommend one of the following options:

the student, supervisor, Practicum Instructor, and Practicum Coordinator form a mutually agreeable solution that allows the student to continue the present placement;
an alternative placement is found for the student; or
the student withdraws from the practicum and the course.

Please note:It is not possible to acquire a new placement once a practicum has started.

Page last updated: February 2, 2010 @ 04:35:03 PM