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Jennifer Rotchford and Felix Casados, past interns, in
their offices. Each intern has their own spacious office with a
large window, comfortable chairs, computer, video recording equipment,
bookshelf, and credenza.
Philosophy and Training
Model
The College of Oneonta Counseling Center uses a
practitioner-scholar model, with an apprenticeship approach based
interns’ developmental needs. Our “practitioner” emphasis means that the
primary goal of the training program is to prepare students for applied
settings and direct clinical service. The emphasis on “scholarship”
implies life-long study of the scientific and scholarly literature, and
rigor in applying established theory to direct practice. We also favor
an “apprenticeship” approach -- that is, on-the-job training with
individualized attention, close supervision and mentoring by experienced
professionals. The role of mentoring is seen as a critical variable in
the development of professional psychologists. We emphasize a
learning-by-doing approach with strong initial support from senior
staff, evolving toward increasing autonomy for interns as they progress
to greater levels of mastery. The Counseling Center training philosophy
rests on the belief that training is a developmental process tailored to
the level of skill of the trainee. Each trainee comes to the internship
with a unique set of strengths and challenges and the Counseling
Center’s task is to help each intern identify those strengths and
cultivate increasing competency in areas for growth.
Goals and objectives: 1) the central goal of the internship is to
prepare clinical and counseling psychologists-in-training to be
competent and versatile generalists ready for entry-level professional
practice. 2) A secondary goal is to develop interns’ professionalism and
professional identity as they consolidate their graduate learning and
their professional style.
A first objective associated with goal #1 is providing interns with the
opportunity for direct experience in a variety of domains appropriate to
generalist training. In the process, interns serve a diverse student
population with a wide variety of presenting issues. A second objective
associated with goal #1 is developing core skills through supervision,
case conference, skill-based experiential seminars, didactic seminars,
and other didactic experiences. To promote assessment of progress towards goal #1, Interns will be evaluated in writing by their supervisors twice during the internship year. Though the training is aimed for the
generalist, opportunities are available for cultivating areas of
specialty.
Regarding goal #2 (developing professionalism and professional identity)
a first objective is to provide interns with mentoring relationships
that offer modeling and guidance in professional conduct. A second
objective for goal #2 is to provide ongoing training (via supervision
and seminars) in ethics and legal issues, in both principle and
practice. A third objective for goal #2 is training and ongoing feedback
in professional habits including work ethic, attitudes,
conscientiousness, relationships, and respect for differences. A fourth
objective for goal #2 is in regard to professional identity development,
and it involves encouraging interns to reflect on personal and
professional style, theoretical orientation, strengths and weaknesses,
reasons for being in the field, and interest in specialty areas.
Plan and sequence of direct service: Direct service
experiences include Individual Counseling, Group Counseling, Education
and Referral, Consultation and Liaison, Outreach, Assessment, and Crisis
Intervention. See relevant section for a detailed description of each.
Interns are provided with policies and procedures for direct service
during a 2 week orientation period, which also allows supervisors and
the Training Director to assess interns’ levels of readiness for various
direct service experiences. Interns will engage in individual counseling
throughout the internship. Group counseling opportunities may begin in
September depending on availability and intern readiness. Consultation
and liaison experiences are developed through the year as opportunities
arise and based on interns’ areas of interest. Intern progress is
monitored closely to ensure that interns are prepared for the next
sequence of experience. Location: All direct clinical service is located
in the Counseling, Health, and Wellness Building on the SUNY Oneonta
campus. Each intern has a separate well-furnished office with a large
window and a pleasant view. Outreach programs may be delivered at
various locations on campus depending on the audience. Summer rotations
in the community vary in location but are most likely to be at the
Otsego County Mental Health Clinic or A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital.
Training curriculum: In addition to weekly supervision (2 hours)
and weekly case conferences (1 hour), training activities include weekly
one-hour seminars. Sample seminar schedules are available upon request.
Microskills therapy seminars, which focus on specific therapy skills,
will be conducted as time is available (at least 4 times per semester)
during non-peak times. Some seminars may be scheduled for longer time
periods, with a minimum of one hour. Outreach programming and committee
work are required parts of the training program and will be developed
based on intern interests.
Evaluation: Intern evaluation focuses on major internship goals and their related objectives, and on major areas of professional competencies. Interns will be evaluated formally and informally by their supervisors and through self-evaluation throughout the program. Written evaluations by individual supervisors will be completed at mid-year in January, at the end of the 2nd semester in early May, and at the end of the internship at the end of July. At the mid-way point of each semester there will be a verbal progress report. Evaluations of other activities, including group therapy, outreach and consultation will be completed by the licensed supervisor in consultation with the supervisor of that activity at the mid-year and at the end of the internship experience. Interns also complete evaluations of their supervisors at corresponding times during the year.A summary of the feedback the intern receives from the evaluation is sent to the Director of Training at the home institution at the mid-year and the end of the internship.
Integration of the psychology training program into the larger
organization: The psychology training program is integrated into the
Counseling Center through the organizational approach to training,
through staff participation in training, and through the functional
roles of interns within the organization. The Counseling Center
approaches training as a vital contribution to the mental health field,
and the psychology internship as a culmination of training for
entry-level professionals. Accordingly, all staff are committed to
training. Staff are available as mentors during the internship year, and
interns are encouraged and invited to seek guidance, consultation, and
advice from all staff members. All staff members participate in leading
training seminars. Case conferences are attended by interns and all
staff members. All staff members attend bi-weekly general staff
meetings. Interns are encouraged to seek consultation from staff members
who are not their direct supervisors. Lastly, in regard to functional
roles, interns participate in a broad range of agency services and work
in close contact with all their senior colleagues. Interns are viewed as
colleagues-in-training, deserving of respect, and treated accordingly
both professionally and personally.
Ongoing program assessment: The Counseling Center professionals are
committed to the training program’s growth and development. We work
toward continuous improvement of the program via regularly scheduled
evaluation and providing the conditions to foster ongoing professional
learning.
SUNY Oneonta Counseling Center Diversity Statement
The SUNY Oneonta Counseling Center is committed to providing a safe
and welcoming environment for everyone who uses our services. We believe
diversity enlivens, challenges, and ultimately enriches our community.
From our differences we also draw unique strengths to confront and solve
problems.
The range of diversity we value includes but is not limited to:
ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender, physical or mental ability,
socio-economic status, spirituality or religion, size, appearance, and
age. We are committed to working against discrimination and oppression,
and we extend a particular welcome to students who may be experiencing
discrimination on the basis of their differences.
We strive to treat all students with equal respect and dignity. We are
also committed to taking part in activities and discussions that will
help us continue to grow in our understanding of diversity.
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Direct Service and Other Professional Activities
Interns will participate in a variety of counseling and outreach
experiences including:
- Individual and Couples Counseling (15-20 client hours
per week). Counselor’s duties include counseling, assessment and
intake, diagnosing, goal setting, planning treatment strategies, and
maintaining a case record with appropriate documentation and
progress notes. The College of Oneonta Counseling Center has a
short-term treatment model, providing students with up to 10
individual counseling sessions, with some flexibility depending on
the circumstance and supervisor permission. Interns may request to
carry 1 or 2 clients for longer-term counseling, for training
purposes. Students often continue to receive services in group
counseling after they have reached the 10-session limit. Typical
concerns for clients presenting to the Counseling Center include
separation issues, adjustment, identity concerns, family and
relationship issues, career indecision, academic demands,
depression, anxiety, and eating/body image problems. Each intern is
provided with video and audio recording equipment to record
individual counseling sessions, which is a required part of
individual supervision.
- Group counseling. Depending on availability, the intern will
co-facilitate a group with a senior staff member during the Fall
semester of internship. In the second semester an intern can decide
to continue co-facilitation of a group -- or, with permission of
their supervisor, an intern may develop and market a group to be led
solely by the intern based on individual interests and expertise as
well as campus needs.
- Outreach and Liaison Activities. Interns will participate
in the Counseling Center’s outreach programming throughout the year.
Opportunities include Residence Life staff training, classroom
presentations, workshops on special topics, residence hall programs,
and co-presenting with full-time staff. There is the opportunity to
design and co-present programs on selected psycho-educational topics
of interest to SUNY Oneonta students.
- Consultation to college faculty and staff. Consultation
with particular faculty, staff, parents and students may also take
place on an individual basis. Consultations are in response to
questions or concerns of a mental health nature from the university
community. The intern consults by providing information, education,
referrals and recommendations.
- Assessment Opportunities. Assessment at the Counseling Center includes initial assessment of clients presenting for intake, alcohol and other drug assessment, mental health status, personality assessment, diagnostic assessment, and risk assessment for potential danger to self and others. The intern will receive training in each of the above assessment areas as well as training in all of the assessment instruments offered at the counseling center. Among the assessment instruments available at no cost to the students are:Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, MMPI-II, NEO-PI-R, Bender-Gestalt, Rorschach, TAT, MBTI (short version), and the AUDIT alcohol screening.
- Summer rotations available in the community. Depending on
availability and intern interest, there are summer rotations
available in the community.
- Professional activities such as representing the Counseling
Center on various university-wide committees. Interns will
participate in one of the Student Development or other College
committees throughout the school year. Interns will be encouraged to
serve on a new committee during the Spring semester. Committees the
trainee may elect to participate in are: PAIRS (sexual assault
awareness and prevention), Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD), Keepin’ It
Civil, Greek Advisory Committee.
- Dissertation/research time optional
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Didactic Training
Interns will participate in a variety of didactic experiences
designed to enhance skills:
- Individual supervision (2.5 hours per week)
- Weekly case conferences
- Weekly training seminars provided by in-house staff and
other college faculty or community practitioners (Topics include: assessment, crisis
intervention, suicide, self-injury, eating disorders, substance
abuse and addiction, anxiety, depression, couples counseling,
Treatment approaches based on different theoretical orientations)
- Micro-skill Therapy seminars. Additional direct practice
seminars are conducted during non-peak times of the semester. These
are therapy skill training seminars, and include discussion and
demonstration via role play by senior staff of various intermediate
to advanced clinical skills. Senior staff modeling of skills is
followed by intern practice of these skills.
- Supervision in Special Topics. Interns are encouraged to
pursue additional supervision for topics of special interest to the
intern or topics identified by a supervisor. These supervision
sessions will be negotiated individually in regard to length and
topics. They may include brief series during the between-semester
planning times, or a longer series during the summer session.
The staff at the College of Oneonta Counseling Center is committed to
training new professionals while providing high quality services to the
students and staff of the college. Interns will participate in
educational seminars and supervision experiences while also
participating in the activities of the counseling center as professional
members of the counseling center staff.
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Weekly Schedule BreakdownBelow is a
sample schedule. Intern duties will naturally vary according to the time
of the semester. For example, clinical contacts at the beginning of a
semester will be lighter, and of course will be weighted more toward
intakes than ongoing clients. Even with the variability in scheduling,
training activities (supervision, seminars, case conferences) will be
maintained throughout the year including during peak times. Upper limits
on clinical contact hours (as indicated below) will be maintained even
at peak times.
Sample: Weekly Intern Activities at College of Oneonta Counseling
Center
Direct Service
10-12 hours individual counseling (caseload will build gradually)
1.5 hours group counseling (as available with groups and schedule)
2 hours intake appointments and assessment
1-2 hours crisis slot
2 hour outreach, committee work, and consultation (on average)
Total during peak times: 20 hours per week of direct service in a 40-hour week
Total during non-peak times of semester will be less, about 10-15 hours
Training and Paperwork/Administrative time
2-3 hours individual supervision
1 hour of case conference
1 hour of staff meeting
1 hour Seminar
Research time (optional)
10-12 hours for case notes, administrative tasks, outreach planning, record-keeping, other
paperwork and case management (collateral contacts, phone calls, etc.)
Total:
40 hour average workweek
% of direct service hours = approximately 50% during peak times, 25-40%
other times
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Counseling Center Services
The Counseling Center is a well-utilized service on a campus of 5,700
students. We are particularly proud of the high satisfaction rate
students report for the services they receive from the Counseling
Center. The center provides individual short-term counseling (10
weeks), couples counseling and group counseling. We also have an Alcohol
and Other Drug (AOD) Counselor/Educator on staff to provide AOD treatment,
prevention and education for students. In addition we have a busy
outreach and consultation program providing education and support for
both students and faculty. The size of the staff and the college allows
for informality, flexibility, and opportunities to participate in a
variety of professional activities and develop specialty areas.
The Counseling Center is located in the Health, Wellness and Counseling
Building along with the Health Center and Health Education Office. We
work closely with nurse practitioners and doctors to provide
comprehensive services to students. Counseling Center Staff work closely
with the Health Center’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and other Nurse
Practitioners to assist in the holistic assessment and treatment of
students. The benefits of working in a smaller campus community are that
the Counseling Center staff works closely with other campus offices
including Residence Life, Academic Support Services, Multicultural
Student Affairs and the Center for Multicultural Education, Disability
Services, First Year Experience, Athletic Department, Career Development
Center, Student Clubs, Office of Health Education, and the Educational
Opportunity Program. By virtue of our status as a member of the SUNY
system, the College of Oneonta also has many of the benefits of working
in a large university system including a multicultural student
population, access to a large variety of services for students, and an
active cultural and entertainment life.
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Counseling Center StaffMark Rice is the Director of the Counseling Center. He has a Ph.D. in
Clinical Psychology from Duquesne University in Pennsylvania and is a NY
licensed psychologist. He has worked in universities, community mental
health, private practice, and substance abuse treatment prior to joining
the Counseling Center in 2000. His theoretical orientation is
integrative, informed by existential-phenomenological and psychodynamic
frameworks, and utilizing multiple intervention strategies including
gestalt and cognitive-behavioral techniques. His areas of professional
interest include anxiety, dream interpretation, substance abuse, anger
management, and spirituality.
Melissa Fallon is the Assistant Director of the Counseling Center and a licensed
psychologist in New York State. She has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology
from the University at Albany and a Master of Arts and a Master of
Education
in counseling
psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. She worked
as a counselor and researcher in higher education and community mental
health prior to joining the staff in 2003. She identifies her
orientation to treatment as integrative drawing from CBT, emotion-focused, narrative, solution-focused,
developmental and feminist. Her professional interests include working
with student athletes, GLBT populations, body image and gender role
issues.
Jeanne Keahon is a Counselor at the Counseling Center. She has a
Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) from SUNY Albany and is a licensed
social worker (LMSW). She has worked in a variety of mental health,
substance abuse, and hospital-based settings before joining us in 1997.
Kerry Wagner has a Master’s degree in Social Work (LMSW) with a
concentration in Alcohol and Other Drugs from the University at Buffalo and is a licensed social worker.
She has worked in a variety of higher education, mental health and
substance abuse settings including a Fellowship at Yale University.
Prior to her arrival to SUNY Oneonta she was the Residential Student
Social Service Coordinator at Buffalo State College. Her professional
interests include working with students with alcohol and other drug
issues, depression and anxiety in women, adjustment issues and group
work.
Amy Clarvoe has her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University at Buffalo. She worked as a counselor in community mental health and higher education before joining the staff in 2008. Her theoretical orientation is integrative, drawing mostly from relational, cognitive-behavioral, and solution-focused therapies. Her professional interests include working with depression and anxiety, sleep issues, grief and loss, relationship problems, grief and loss, and group work.
For more information about the Counseling Center Staff
follow this link.
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The College at Oneonta
and the City of Oneonta, NY
The College at Oneonta is a liberal arts college with a
pre-professional focus. With 5700 students and 260 faculty, the 250 acre
campus overlooks the scenic Susquehanna River Valley in Central New
York, and is nestled in the northern foothills of the Catskill
Mountains. The College at Oneonta is located midway between Albany and
Binghamton in the midst of one of New York's most scenic and historic
upstate areas. The College has had impressive positive trends in
admissions profiles the past 5 years and is becoming an increasingly
selective institution in the SUNY system college. The College is located
in the City of Oneonta, a friendly community with 15,000 residents.
Oneonta is also home to Hartwick College. In addition to being an
educational center, the city offers a variety of housing, shopping,
cultural, and recreational opportunities. The College at Oneonta
contributes significantly to the cultural and intellectual life of the
community.
Within a 30-minute drive are two state parks (Glimmerglass and Gilbert
Lake) and several popular ski areas. Oneonta offers a distinctive
downtown business community, a range of shops and restaurants, and
convenient public transportation. Local attractions include the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the National Soccer Hall of Fame
in Oneonta, and the Glimmerglass Opera.
The James M. Milne Library supports the College's mission by providing
the resources and services to meet the academic needs of its staff and
students. The five-story building houses a 40-station computer lab and
affords space for both individual and group study. In its collection,
the second largest of the 13 SUNY colleges of arts and sciences, the
library has books, journals, audiovisual materials (including videos,
CDs, and tapes), and other resources. As part of the State University of
New York system, the college library also gives staff members access to
materials from all over the state through interlibrary loan.
The College at
Oneonta has received national recognition from Kiplinger's Magazine
as one of "100 Best Values in Public Colleges." The College has also
been recognized by U.S. News and World Report and CosmoGirl.
To read more about these distinctions follow this link.
For more information about the university see our website at:
www.oneonta.edu. For more
information about the city of Oneonta see the city website:
http://oneonta.ny.us/ .
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Qualifications
Required: enrolled doctoral student in a counseling, clinical,
or professional psychology program; completion of practicum placements
as required by program; completion of doctoral qualifying exams (by
internship start date), completion of coursework (by internship start
date), 800 hours of supervised practicum, statement of readiness for internship by
program’s training director.
Preferred: Experience in a
higher education setting; experience with diverse populations; and
experience with outreach programming;.
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Stipend and Benefits
The 2,000 hour full-time internship begins August 2 and ends August 1. The stipend will be $18,000, subject to change according to union contract negotiations or other budgetary changes. Interns are entitled to full NY State benefits including vacation, sick time, holidays, health insurance, dental and vision. The intern will meet with Human Resources staff for an orientation to their benefits package. Benefits include 1.25 days per month (total 15 days, i.e. 3 weeks) vacation accrual. Sick time accruals are the same (1.25 days per month) as vacation days).
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Application process
The College at Oneonta Counseling Center is participating in the
APPIC Match Service as an APPIC Member. Interested
students should submit application materials via the APPI online service only.
- Completed application form (standard APPIC form)
- Verification of internship eligibility and readiness form signed
by your training director
- Three letters of recommendation
- Transcripts of graduate coursework
Applicants will be notified by phone or email of interview status by
January 10. Applicants will be interviewed individually and the number
of interviewers may vary. Interviews will typically be by phone but
on-site interviews are optional. Requests can be made to speak or meet
with specific staff, including current interns.
Interested students should direct application materials to:
Mark Rice, Ph.D.
Director, Counseling Center
State University of New York, College at Oneonta
Oneonta, NY 13820-4015
Riceme@oneonta.edu
Fax (607) 436-2074
Applications are due by January 9. Applicants will be invited to
participate in phone interviews and then optional on-site interviews.
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For more information contact us at:
Mark Rice, Ph.D.
Counseling Center
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY 13820-4015
607-436-3368
Riceme@oneonta.edu
http://www.oneonta.edu/development/counseling/
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