Master’s internship in counseling

The Master’s Internship at Counseling Services (CS) is designed for graduate students completing a master’s degree in counseling and who have completed at least one semester of supervised counseling practicum. The major focus of the internship is counseling, mental health consultation and occasional outreach in college student mental health. The purpose of these services is to assist enrolled NAU students with psychological distress, assist with developmental tasks, and help them to succeed in the academic environment.

NAU Counseling Services is part of NAU Campus Health Services. It is located in the Health and Learning Center on the NE corner of the NAU campus. The Full-Time Internship requires a commitment of 40 hours/week in the CS agency over the course of a Fall or Spring semester. A Full-Time Internship is not offered during Summer semester. The Part-Time Internship requires a commitment of 20 hours/week in the CS agency over the course of two semesters (Fall- Spring or Spring-Summer; note that Summer-Fall is not an option). Both internships require additional attendance at the 1.5 hour/week Internship class in the Educational Psychology Department. There is a 5 day orientation period prior to the beginning of any internship semester and a 5 day completion week subsequent to finals week of the internship, both of which are mandatory parts of the intern contract. The completion week may be shortened, depending on the amount of clinical documentation remaining at that time.

Primary responsibilities

In the CS agency, interns offer direct counseling services to NAU undergraduate and graduate students via brief individual and couples counseling. Interns also provide coverage for daytime crises, initial assessments, and mental health consultation. Part-time interns manage approximately 11 clinical hours/week while full-time interns manage approximately 25 clinical hours/week. All interns maintain current records of client contacts, maintain active contact with their primary supervisor and the Coordinator of Training regarding clinical work, attend weekly individual supervision with their assigned supervisor, and attend Case Consultation, Psychiatric Consultation, and administrative staff meetings weekly. They demonstrate awareness of ethical conduct in a psychological service environment, including procedures regarding confidentiality, crisis situations, and appropriate consultation. Interns also may be offered other CS responsibilities as mutually discussed between the Intern, the Coordinator of Training, the primary supervisor, and the CS Director.

Experiences often, but not always available through this internship

Interns may be offered the opportunity to facilitate therapy and/or support groups as well as provide outreach and consultation to the university community.

Experiences not offered through this internship

CS does not offer experiences for interns in career counseling (except as a presenting issue for clients with personal concerns), testing and assessment (except as clinically justified by a client’s case and with permission of the supervisor), and child/family counseling because these services are not offered (except as noted) by CS as a whole.

Supervision offered

Interns are required to attend weekly, scheduled individual supervision with the assigned supervisor (with additional consults as needed) as well as weekly Case Consultation or Psychiatric Consultation groups. They also are encouraged to consult with other counseling staff members as needed for additional insight into clinical work and especially if their primary supervisor is unavailable in a time of need. Interns electronically record their counseling sessions for the purpose of professional development and supervisory review.

Please contact our Master’s Internship in Counseling Coordinator, Kate Murdaugh, MS, LPC at kathryn.murdaugh@nau.edu with any additional questions or for a sample schedule of training activities.

Now accepting internship applications for Spring 2025. 

Please include the following in your application materials: a Cover letter/letter or interest, Resume/CV, Two letters of recommendation one of which addresses your counseling skills and transcripts of graduate work from all universities.