Gwynedd Mercy University 2025-2026 University Catalog 148
Internship: Internship requires 600 hours of field work on site. Forty percent of the required fieldwork hours must be in direct service to clients / students. Each internship course requires an hour and a half of weekly synchronous group supervision, which is held during evening hours and is mandatory in order to pass the course. For more information about Internship, please review the Internship Handbook found on the student portal.
Students complete internship over the course of two semesters in Internship I( 300 hours) and Internship II( 300 hours). Students who anticipate a hardship with completing 300 hours in each internship course may petition during Practicum to complete 200 hours in each internship course and add a third internship course( Internship III, 200 hours) to the end of their program. This option will extend the length of the program and result in the student taking 3 credit hours in addition to the 60 required for the degree.
Field Placement Policies: Below is a list of some of the major field placement policies that students often have questions about. This is not an exhaustive list. For a full list of field placement expectations, policies and procedures please see the appropriate field placement handbook. These handbooks can be found on the student portal and on our program website.
• Both practicum and internship experiences must be in a setting applicable to the student’ s concentration of study under the supervision of an appropriate site supervisor with the proper license / certification.
• No two field placements can be taken at the same time. The student must complete practicum and internship experiences separately. No field experience can start before the Practicum / Internship course begins. No field experience can end before the Practicum / Internship course ends, and no Field Experience can continue after the Practicum / Internship course ends.
School Counseling concentration students:
• Cannot complete Practicum and Internship field experience during the summer.
• Must complete Practicum and Internship field experience during the PreK – 12 school day when PreK – 12 school is in session.
• Must be supervised on site by a certified school counselor with three years of school counseling experience who is currently employed as a school counselor.
Clinical Mental Health concentration students:
• Are permitted to complete their field experiences during the summer.
• Students in the post-graduate Clinical Mental Health Certificate program must complete their 300-hour internship in a clinical mental health setting.
Any students who wish to complete their field experience where they work must file a petition requesting an exception. Filing a petition to request permission to complete practicum or internship where one works does not guarantee a waiver. For more information on the petition to complete field in the workplace, please see the Practicum or Internship Handbook found on the student portal.
Professional Counselor Dispositions The Counseling Program maintains that professional counselor dispositions are critical to effective counseling, counselor growth and development, and counselor assistance to others. Therefore, counselor trainees are expected to be more concerned about others than themselves, to be well