Advocate Aurora University Student Assistance Program (USAP) at the University of St. Francis (USF) has a current internship opening for 2023-2024. Detailed information about this internship opportunity can be found below.
Please direct any questions to Meghan Bahr at meghan.bahr@aah.org
Welcome to the Advocate Aurora University Student Assistance Program (USAP) at the University of St. Francis (USF)
The primary goal of this internship is for interns to develop competency and confidence in basic psychosocial assessment and intervention skills. These skills will be learned and refined through direct experience with clients, didactic instruction, individual supervision, and group supervision.
Section I: Ideal Applicant
Master’s level interns for USAP located at USF must have the ability to work autonomously, be self-directed, and work collaboratively as a member of a team. Interns should be interested in providing both individual and group therapy, utilizing both in person and virtual modalities, and be motivated to apply brief, solution focused interventions. Additionally, internship opportunities at USAP take both a developmental and experiential approach to training; therefore, interns must be willing to focus on both personal and professional growth. As the University of St. Francis has various locations in the Joliet area, the intern must have access to transportation to meet the location needs of this internship.
Section II: Applying for USAP Internship
We require a cover letter, transcript, curriculum vitae and three letters of recommendation with all applications. At least one letter of recommendation must come from a supervisor who is familiar with and can speak about your clinical work and experience. To apply or further information, please email Meghan Bahr, LCSW at meghan.bahr@aah.org.
Section III: Overview of the Internship
This 750-hour internship is structured to train a social work or psychology Master’s-level intern in providing mental health services in a university setting as part of Advocate Aurora’s USAP. The intern will have the opportunity to be exposed to a wide array of clinical and didactic experiences being part of Advocate Aurora and the University of St. Francis (which is a small, Catholic, liberal arts university). The internship utilizes the practitioner-scholar model of clinical training and service delivery. The practitioner-scholar training model emphasizes the integration and application of critical thinking and skillful reflection across a broad range of experiential activities.
This internship is designed to challenge the intern to grow professionally and personally into the role of a mental health clinician. We incorporate theoretically based, self-reflective, and culturally competent practice, and encourage the intern to meet high ethical standards as clinicians working as part of Advocate Aurora and within the university setting. The intern can expect to receive rigorous supervision and mentoring to become:
- A strong generalist clinician who can confidently and flexibly move between multiple roles a general practitioner holds. This also includes the ability to evaluate how various economic, environmental, social, and spiritual factors influence mental health and wellness.
- A self-reflective clinician who utilizes their selected theoretical orientation in conceptualizing client issues, clinical practice, social identity issues, and interventions.
- Able to develop and articulate a special interest and transform this interest into micro and macro level interventions.
Training Experiences
The specific objectives of the internship program through USAP:
- To train ethical and competent future mental health clinicians who are capable of functioning independently.
- To expose the intern to a variety of activities and services that the USAP provides.
- To build skills in development of therapeutic relationships, diagnosis, treatment planning, and case management.
- To develop skills and expand therapeutic abilities in a variety of therapeutic modalities, including intake assessment, crisis intervention, individual and group therapy, and psychoeducational seminars and programming.
- To help increase self-awareness, including the ability to identify strengths and opportunities for growth.
- To provide a training experience that will facilitate the intern’s understanding and appreciation for the need to engage in culturally competent work
- To provide experience in consultation and collaboration with other professionals on a university campus, including Residential Life, Athletics, Career Services, Student Affairs, Institutional Diversity, and Peer Ministry.
- To identify and develop an area of specialization based on the intern’s interests.
Generalist Practice
The primary goal of this internship is to assist the intern in their development of becoming a skilled generalist practitioner who can address and advocate for the USAP clients with various mental health concerns. The intern will increase awareness of student development and mental health issues. The intern will develop competencies in multiple clinical venues that USAP provides, such as initial clinical screenings, crisis management, individual and group therapy, outreach and consultation, psychoeducational seminar programming, and training administration.
Specialty Focus
In addition to a generalist practice emphasis, the intern is expected to develop and demonstrate a specialization that the intern is interested in cultivating. This specialization will also encompass individual clinical interventions as well as focus on working collaboratively with other departments on-campus such as the Office of Institutional Diversity, Student Affairs, Residence Life, Peer Ministry, and University of St. Francis student organizations.
Self-Awareness
This internship stresses the importance of the development of the skills needed to engage in therapeutic relationships and assist clients in making the changes they desire to make. The intern will be encouraged to work on their personal growth and self-awareness with regards to being observant and sensitive to diversity issues throughout the internship. The intern will be provided continuous supervision both individually and in group format to support their clinical, personal, and professional development. Supervised experience will be provided in therapy and counseling services, crisis intervention, psychoeducational seminars, program development and evaluation, and professional clinical and administrative issues.
Community-Based Interventions
USAP actively serves USF by identifying and creating initiatives geared towards addressing various health and wellness topics presenting on campus. USAP strives to provide students, professors, administration, and staff with information, education, and consultation on various wellness issues such as substance use, anger management, effective communication and conflict resolution, managing stress, boundaries etc. through the course of the academic year. The intern will gain experience and skill in working with systems and groups to further educate and create a positive impact in the USF and Joliet communities.
