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.”