Current Practicum Sites

Cornell College Counseling Center

Mt. Vernon, Iowa

Cornell College is a small, private, liberal arts school that operates on the block plan, where students take one class for 3 1/2 weeks each over the course of the academic year.  The Counseling Center has one full-time psychologist and a part-time therapist.  The practicum student has a furnished office (shared with the part-time therapist on her days off), equipped with a computer, audio recorder, and private restroom.  As a practicum student, you engage in individual counseling and provide intake services to Cornell students.  Additionally, you provide consultation and outreach services to students, parents, faculty, and staff.  Cornell provides an excellent opportunity for working within a brief-therapy setting, as the average number of student sessions is approximately 3-4 sessions (although this varies from 1 to approximately 10 sessions overall). You will gain experience working with a range of student issues and may need to provide crisis counseling as needed.   As a practicum student you will interact with staff from the Health Center, Student Affairs, and Residence Life.  This is a great opportunity to learn how to provide counseling services within a relatively small and supportive college environment.

Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Iowa City, Iowa

The VA Medical Center offers a variety of psychotherapy and assessment opportunities with combat and non-combat outpatient veteran populations.  Specialized training is offered in assessing and treating PTSD, traumatic brain injury, military related anxiety and depression, chronic pain, military sexual trauma, and normal developmental problems for veterans.  Additionally, training in health psychology, neuropsychology, couples therapy, group therapy, and bio-feedback are also available.  It should be noted that the specialized training opportunities listed in this description are subject to change depending on staff availability and that the VA training director should be contacted for more information of the current availability of training at the site.  The VA expects students to stay for two consecutive semesters.  Adding the summer semester before or after the two consecutive semesters is an option.

Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

Iowa City, Iowa

The Assessment and Counseling Clinic (ACC) of the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development is dedicated to providing clinical, outreach, and consultation services for gifted individuals, their families, and schools. The main role of the practicum student is to assist in psychoeducational assessments of children. Most children seeking services at the ACC are suspected to be intellectually gifted, between the ages of 5 and 17 years, and are experiencing academic or emotional difficulties. Students are evaluated because of underachievement in school, which may be due in part to ADHD, learning disabilities (LDs), depression, anxiety, or adjustment disorders. Practicum students will gain experience in writing detailed integrated reports, group, workshops, and consultation. Supervisors strive to meet the training needs of the practicum student, and thus respect requests made by the student for additional experience with assessment measures, client populations, and group experience.

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