Psychology department offers hands-on training
The psychology department at CSU wants its students to have
plenty of hands-on training.
Both undergraduate and graduate psychology students can
participate in a practicum or internship through CSU.
“This is where they begin to apply what they have learned in
classes,” said Charles Davidshofer, director of the University
Counseling Center. “They learn and are able to generate good, solid
skills.”
Undergraduate psychology students may choose to do an internship
at many agencies in Fort Collins, such as the Crossroads Safe
House, for class credit, said Bill Boyer, a psychology
professor.
“Different agencies work with different types of populations,”
Boyer said. “Students can just choose from these agencies which one
of these groups they’d like to work with.”
Many graduate students are required to fulfill a component of
their degree at the UCC, said Susan MacQuiddy, directory of
training for the UCC.
“The counseling center has a training program for several
different groups of people,” MacQuiddy said. “They all come to us
through their academic departments.”
Graduate students working at the UCC can work in social work,
psychology or counseling and career development.
Those involved in a practicum with the UCC will work anywhere
from 10 to 24 hours per week in addition to their coursework.
“They’re students – they continue to do academic work at the
same time,” MacQuiddy said.
Interns, however, generally come to CSU from other universities
to focus solely on a full-time internship. They are matched with
CSU from their home university through a “crazy computer match
game,” said Marcy Palmer, graduate psychology intern at the
UCC.
“It’s kind of a crazy process,” Palmer said. “CSU has a fabulous
reputation for training. It’s lucky to come here.”
Interns are required to see students both individually and in
groups, provide emergency overnight assistance, give outreach
presentations and participate in assessment and consultations.
“Those are basically the kinds of activities that all the staff
are involved in, to a degree,” Davidshofer said. “They enhance
staff diversity – ethnically, socially, whatever.”
MacQuiddy wants students who visit the counseling center to know
that the UCC student staff members are qualified for their
jobs.
“All of our students who are here are supported by our permanent
staff,” MacQuiddy said. “It’s important for (students) to know that
the students that work for the counseling center have had training
in this area and are closely supported as well.”
Palmer is grateful for the opportunity to work at the counseling
center.
“In a sense, everything we do helps us in our career goals,”
Palmer said. “We just have a lot more connections.”
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