Gwynedd Mercy University
AY2022-2023 Graduate Academic Catalog
5 . Post-graduate PreK-12 School Counseling Certification Program varies based on the total number of Pennsylvania Department of Education competencies waived based other master ' s degree work .
Field Requirements : The Counseling Program offers three areas of field experience : Pre-Practicum , Practicum and Internship : 20 hours of Pre-Practicum ( built into counseling course work ), 100 hours of Practicum and 600 + hours of Internship . Below are the main field experience expectations by area . For specific information regarding field placement particulars ( expectations , grading , application requirements , etc .) please review the appropriate field handbook . These handbooks can be found on the student portal .
Pre-practicum : Pre-practicum requirements are fulfilled in two classes ; CNS 505 Foundations of Counseling ( 6 hours ) and CNS 527 Social Justice , Multicultural and Diversity Issues in Counseling ( 14 hours ). These courses and the pre-practicum hours involved must be complete prior to applying to practicum . For more information about the pre-practicum experiences , please review the Pre-Practicum handout found on the student portal .
Practicum : The following courses are prerequisites for Practicum ( CNS 513 ); CNS 501 Counseling Skills , CNS 505 Foundations of Counseling , CNS 520 Theories in Counseling . Since these courses are Core courses students must earn a grade of “ B ” or better in each in order to begin Practicum .
Practicum requires 100 hours of fieldwork over the course of 15 weeks ( approximately 7 hours per week ). Students must complete the full 100 hours onsite . Forty percent of these onsite hours must be directly working with students / client services . The practicum course requires an hour and a half ( 1.5 ) of synchronous group supervision weekly . This supervision is held during the evening hours . Students must attend this weekly class group supervision in order to pass the course . For more information about Practicum , please review the Practicum Handbook found on the student portal .
Internship : Internship requires three semesters of 200 + hours ( totals 600 + hours ) of field work over the course of 15 weeks ( each internship approximately 13 hours per week ). School concentration students must complete two semesters of 210 hours over two internship experiences and a third semester of 200 hours of internship experience hours to fulfill the internship requirements for certification ( see ” Field Placement Policies ” below ). Students must complete the full 200 / 210 hours onsite . Forty percent of these onsite hours must be in direct services to students / clients . Each internship course requires an hour and a half ( 1.5 ) of synchronous group supervision weekly . This supervision is held during the evening hours . Students must attend this weekly class group supervision in order to pass the course . For more information about internship , please review the Internship Handbook found on the student portal .
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 .
• 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 a total of 60 weeks of practicum and internship experiences ( combined through four 15-week experiences / courses ).
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