Externs will be involved in the following regular clinical service and training activities:

· Individual Therapy: externs will carry an individual therapy caseload of approximately 6 -- 8 students. The Polytechnic Institute of NYU Counseling Center works under a short-term therapy model (up to one semester). Externs may have the opportunity to see one or two cases throughout the academic year, depending on students’ clinical needs, and in consultation with the extern’s supervisor.

· Individual Supervision: The Polytechnic externship provides a depth and breadth of individual supervision to promote extern’s personal and professional development as clinicians. Externs receive weekly individual supervision from two different members of our licensed psychology staff for a total of two hours per week. All therapy sessions are audiotaped and/or videotaped and tapes are reviewed during supervision sessions. We encourage externs to take an active role in their supervision, and allow time in their schedules for preparation for supervision (i.e., self-review of audio/videotapes; preparation of questions for the supervision)

· Initial Assessments: At the beginning of the Fall semester, externs will be trained in our initial assessment procedures. This training will be partly didactic and partly experiential, with the latter including observing staff members conducting initial assessment sessions. When the extern’s supervisors determine that he or she is ready to conduct initial assessments, externs will be scheduled for two initial assessments a week.

· Disposition Meeting: Externs and senior staff meet weekly to review intakes and discuss treatment recommendations. Therapy cases will be assigned to externs on the basis of the clinical needs of each case, and the trainee’s level of experience and training goals. In assigning cases, we make every effort to accommodate trainee’s specific clinical interests, as well as providing cases that will be appropriately challenging given the extern’s level of development.

· Group Therapy: Externs may have the opportunity to co-facilitate a therapy group with a senior staff member, depending on trainee and staff interests and center resources. Groups might include a social skills training group or a peer support group for international students. The extern will receive half an hour of supervision by the group co-facilitator after each group meeting.

· Multicultural Case Conference: The Polytechnic Counseling Center is committed to providing culturally sensitive service’s to NYU-Poly students, and to enhancing the cultural competence of all members of our staff through on-going training and professional development. At the beginning of the Fall semester, externs will participate in a weekly multicultural therapy seminar that will provide a general introduction to models of multicultural assessment and therapy. Externs will be encouraged to explore their own cultural backgrounds and attitudes and values as these may influence their approach to working with students. Following completion of this didactic seminar, externs and senior staff meet weekly for a multicultural case conference in which participants discuss issues of identity, attitudes and values, power, and other dimensions of culture and intercultural interaction as they emerge in our work with students. Besides bringing in case material for discussion, participants are encouraged to share relevant background materials (e.g. articles from journals, magazines and newspapers) with the group to increase our knowledge and understanding of issues pertinent to students of multiple cultural backgrounds.

· Outreach: In addition to direct service provision, outreach to the entire NYU-Poly community is a central part of the Counseling Center’s mission. Externs will deliver at least two psycho-educational workshops per semester, proceeding in a developmental sequence from co-leading a workshop with a senior staff member to developing and implementing one’s own workshop. Externs also will participate in center-wide outreach activities, including national depression and alcohol screenings.

· Outreach Seminar: Externs will meet bi-weekly with a senior staff member for Outreach Seminar. This seminar will provide didactic information about principles and strategies of outreach and hands-on experience preparing outreach programs for delivery to the NYU-Poly community.

· Training Seminar: Externs will meet bi-weekly with a senior staff member or invited guest to discuss issues pertinent to college mental health, in particular, or clinical/counseling psychology in general. Some topics include models of brief psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, alcohol and substance abuse, learning disabilities and ADHD, and LGBT issues.

· Paperwork and Case Management: Externs will have time in their schedule for doing required paperwork and other case management activities. It is important that externs keep their charts up to date and that these are regularly reviewed by their supervisor