Mental Health Counseling Graduate Student Internship Program

Stipends 

Currently the LPC program within the Upstate CBOCs  is not compensated at this time. 

Internship Duration

Interns will adhere to their institution’s established academic calendar, which usually begins in the fall semester and ends in May.

Internship hours consist of:

• Mental Health Counseling Interns will complete the following:
• 600 hours in an agency over the duration of two semesters (Internship I & Internship II)
• Each semester will be a total of 300 hours, and of those hours, will be 120 of direct client contact hours, and 180 hours of non-client contact (indirect)
• A licensed professional counselor (LPC) must be on site while HPTs are there
• The internship requirements equals about 3 days a week (preferred) or 5 half-days a week for the semester duration 

Eligibility Requirements 

Interns are beginning their first internship rotation and are willing to complete both semesters with the VA.

Students currently enrolled at:

University of South Carolina (Current rotations are in the Upstate)

Clemson University 

Internship Placements

Interns will start at the outpatient general mental health department (BHIP) program. There they will learn to evaluate clinical need by facilitating biopsychosocial intakes, render appropriate diagnosis per DSM-5 TR criteria, and complete appropriate clinical screeners, to obtain baseline measure of presenting symptoms. Interns will carry a clinical caseload of 4 clients to facilitate individual psychotherapy. Interns will also develop their group competency skills by facilitating one of two groups: Coping Skills group or the PTSD group. Lastly, Interns will learn to evaluate client walk-ins to the clinic and be able to manage mental health emergencies. Interns will receive instruction on the Computerized Patient Records System (CPRS) and Mental Health Suite (MHS) computer programs to complete all clinical notes and treatment plans.  Interns will be able to collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team of – counselors, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and registered nurses.  A typical duty day is from: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. 

Interns will have an opportunity to complete a rotation with the Primary Care Mental Health Intensive (PCMHI) to learn the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) approach, which consists of a multi-disciplinary team of nurses, social workers, and physicians. Interns will conduct brief clinical assessments to identify patient need and make clinical referrals to appropriate departments, such as General Mental Health for further care. Interns will be able to provide brief psychotherapy that is about 4 – 6 clinical sessions to stabilize presenting problems and refer clients for long-duration of care. 

How to Apply: 

Applicants will fill out the PDF form, and submit the PDF, a brief resume, and a short paragraph expressing their reason for wanting to intern at the VA, and email it to  them to David H. DeBusman at David.debusman@va.gov. 

Interview 

Once all applications have been received by end of May for the Fall semester, an interview will be conducted by the Internship Committee. Applicants of acceptance will be notified by coordinator via email.