Program Description
Counseling and Mental Health Services offers a dynamic and multi-faceted training opportunity to Social Work interns in a multi-disciplinary setting. Social work interns provide direct clinical services to students and outreach to the USC campus community in the following ways. Each trainee:
- Carries a case-load of 8 clients each semester
- Provides initial assessments, short-term and long-term individual therapy
- Provides group therapy
- Provides crisis intervention (Spring semester)
- Receives 2 hours individual supervision with a licensed social worker
- Receives 1.5 hours of group supervision
- Participates in consultation and outreach programming (optional)
- Minimum 200 face-to-face clinical hours
The following are regular weekly activities required for participation in the Social Work Training program:
- All Staff meetings Monday mornings
- Group supervision Monday afternoons
- Seminar Series Friday mornings
Social Work interns have opportunities for live supervision via video-taping, or use of a one way mirror. Besides weekly seminars, individual and group supervision and staff meetings, all staff members participate in ongoing multicultural training throughout the year, including diversity case conferences.
Counseling and Mental Health Services is part of a large network of university community resources for undergraduate and graduate students. We are part of USC Student Health and work closely with Medical Services. Other campus partnerships include: Academic Support, Disability Services and Programs, Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services, LGBT Student Resource Center, Asian Pacific American Student Services, El Centro Chicano, Office of International Student Services, Office of Religious Life, and Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs. The clients served represent the diverse population of a metropolitan university campus with regard to age, culture, country and ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
Training is a strong component of the intern experience at Counseling and Mental Health Services. In addition to serving as a field placement to 2nd year social work interns in the mental health concentration, the counseling center is also an APA-accredited training site for pre-doctoral psychology interns, and a training site for practicum students and post-doctoral psychology fellows. The field placement year begins with a week of orientation with Counseling and Mental Health Services in late August for social work students and practicum counselors. Senior staff members present seminars on clinical issues salient to working with a diverse population. A day of team building activities for all staff sets the tone for the year together.
The internship year runs from August through May with four weeks off over winter break and one week off during spring break.
Contact
Andrew Iskandar, LCSW
Coordinator of Social Work Training
(213) 740-7711
Andrew.Iskandar2@med.usc.edu