Counseling Center

The Training Program:

Areas of Concentration

Interns may choose from any of the Areas of Concentration listed. Additionally, if an intern has an area of interest not listed, the training staff is open to hearing new ideas.

There are two criteria for an Area of Concentration. The first is that a Counseling Center staff member has the necessary knowledge base within your chosen area to provide effective supervision. The other criterion in choosing an Area of Concentration is that there is a need on the SIUC campus for the service you want to provide.

Areas of Concentration include:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program:

Interns will co-facilitate the DBT skills group, attend the weekly DBT Consultation Team Meeting, and provide individual therapy to clients who have been accepted into the DBT program. Interns do not need to have prior knowledge of DBT, but they do need to have an interest in working with trauma, impulse disorders, and clients with Axis II diagnoses.

Eating Disorder Outpatient Program (EDOP):

Interns will see individual clients who present with disordered eating, such as anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, emotional eating, and disturbed body image. The intern will also attend bi-weekly multi-disciplinary meetings where treatment planning and client progress is discussed. Co-facilitating the time-limited educational and experiential group, Loving the Body You're In, is another opportunity for the intern who chooses EDOP as an area of concentration. Finally, the intern will work with the EDOP Treatment Team members to plan and deliver activities for Eating Disorder Awareness Week in February.

Individual Psychotherapy:

Interns may see additional clients and request the types of clients they would like to work with, based on client demographics or clinical issues. In the recent past, interns have chosen to work with women of color, trauma survivors, dysthymic men, international students, and Axis II diagnoses.

LD/ADHD Assessment:

Interns may choose to focus on the assessment of learning disabilities and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Interns will have the opportunity to administer, score, and write integrated assessment reports for at least eight students during the internship year. Prior graduate coursework in objective testing and cognitive assessment is a requirement for this area of concentration.

Consultation and Outreach:

Interns would participate as a member of the Consultation and Outreach Team. Interns may develop a consultation project or collaborate with other staff members on new or ongoing activities. Previous Consultation projects have included development of a stress management program for minority medical preparation students, career mentoring for women, and developing a training manual for the SIUC student gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered hotline phone services. A focus on Outreach would allow the intern to develop workshop presentations and handouts, create on-line resources for students regarding mental health issues, write and issue of the Parent Newsletter sponsored by the Counseling Center, and provide outreach programs on various topics to the campus community.*

Counseling Center Administration:

Interns may choose to work with the Director of the Counseling Center on a current project. Past projects have included educational sessions for administrators and faculty on Counseling Center services, creating Counseling Center literature, and research analyzing clinical trends and treatment effectiveness at the SIUC Counseling Center.*

Research and Program Evaluation:

Interns would participate as a member of the Research and Program Evaluation Team. Past projects have included research on retention of students who seek Counseling Center services compared to students who do not, investigating therapy outcome measures to be used by clinicians at the Counseling Center, and researching and recommending client satisfaction instruments to be used at the Counseling Center.*

*These areas of concentration may be chosen for only one semester. The hours do not count toward the 500 clinical services hours which are needed to pass the internship.

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