Internship, Practicum, and Field Placement Handbook: A Guide for the Helping Professions / Edition 5

Professionals and students in the helping professions consider internships, practicums, and field placements among the most influential experiences of their careers. At the same time, however, students also report that their normal coursework typically provides only indirect, and in many cases insufficient, preparation for their first "real world" exposure. This book is designed to bridge the gap between academic coursework and the knowledge, skills, and emotional challenges that are found beyond the classroom.

In writing this book, I sought to draw upon the best information available from psychology, psychiatry, social work, counseling, and other helping professions. Toward that end, I conducted extensive literature reviews of the leading journals and texts in each field. I also consulted with numerous faculty and supervisors in each discipline and in various types of academic institutions and internship settings. Drawing upon personal experience in the role of intern, and having supervised hundreds of students and trainees in beginning and advanced placements, I have tried to write a book that will be valuable at many levels. Whether you are an undergraduate student working for the first time in a field placement or a graduate student completing your final internship, I hope this book will help your work and learning be more effective and more rewarding.

OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS

A glance at the table of contents reveals that the book is organized along both chronological and thematic lines. The chapters have been organized sequentially to anticipate the stages interns pass through and the understandings or skills that will be required in those stages.Initial chapters deal with such things as selecting placements and supervisors, meeting staff and clients, and key ethical and legal issues. Middle chapters deal with supervision, working with individuals of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and selfcare. Discussions of termination, finishing the internship, and lessons learned conclude the book. Finally, appendixes provide examples of forms useful for establishing learning plans, supervision agreements, ethical guidelines, evaluations, and other procedures.

Because internship training and clinical work involve a constant process of self-exploration and change, the textual material of each chapter is accompanied by self-exploration and experiential learning exercises. I encourage you to use these exercises and be open to the experiences. The more one works in this field the more acutely one realizes the importance of self-examination and understanding.

Since the initial publication of this book, the response from students, instructors, and supervisors has been tremendously gratifying. Students are finding many of their questions answered here, and the practical suggestions help them deal more effectively with both the challenges and the opportunities of internships. Instructors have found that students who have read the chapters are better informed and have a greater awareness of issues and information they need to know. Supervisors have reported to me that the interns who are using this book are much better prepared and more knowledgeable than others. Indeed, a number of onsite supervisors have told me they will not supervise any interns unless the intern has read this book.

This third edition builds on the base established already and incorporates the most recent research and clinical literature in the field. The role of technology in clinical work has increased exponentially. I have expanded the discussion of relevant ethical and clinical issues pertaining to computerized record keeping, electronic communications, and even remote delivery of clinical services. Other topics that have been expanded or added include the influence of managed care on practice and ethics, the concept of vicarious traumatization as a stressor for clinicians, multimodal and research-based approaches to self-care, evolving issues in the ethics of informed consent, and new forms for use in tracking clinical and supervisory experience. As in the second edition, I have also incorporated many of the valuable suggestions offered by students, faculty, and supervisors. Perhaps most significantly, this edition reflects the able help of, and extensive consultation with, Heather Stewart, who was an undergraduate student in one of my internship courses some years ago and who has just completed her own predoctoral internship in clinical psychology. The perspective she brings as a recent intern helped keep the material fresh, relevant, and immediately applicable to the needs of trainees.

One other change has happened in my own life that warrants mention here. Since completion of the second edition, I was honored to have been elected to the United States Congress as the Representative from Washington State's Third District. While my duties in Congress have necessitated at least for now, that I leave the classroom and clinical supervision, I remain as committed as ever to the mission of human service and to the importance and value of training students in field settings. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also more convinced than ever that those who work and teach in the helping professions have a responsibility to also be involved as citizens in the political process. Our professions are uniquely qualified and positioned to offer critical insights into some of the most vexing issues facing our nation today. Juvenile violence, drug abuse, early childhood education, health-care funding, environmental protection, and even conflict resolution in international affairs have all been the topic of both study and direct intervention by human service professionals. Thus, it is my hope that while students, faculty, and supervisors use this book to help enhance the quality of their internship experiences, they will also use their own talents in some way in the public arena to expand their contributions to the public good.