Field Placements
All students in the MA in Mental Health Counseling program build clinical competency skills through a 100-hour practicum and a 900-hour internship experience at local hospitals, agencies and organizations in the New York area.
The practicum begins at the end of the first academic year. Once completed, students transition into the internship for the remaining 900 hours of clinical practice. Students complete a total of 1000 hours, of which 400 are direct client contact hours. This satisfies the NYS requirements for clinical hours for the master’s degree.
Field placements provide students with excellent clinical supervision in the practice of counseling, assessment, and evaluation, as well as specific treatments for a variety of mental health issues. Placements offer experience working in a variety of clinical settings, including inpatient/outpatient hospital-based programs, private practices, rehabilitation programs, school-based mental health programs, and organizations.
Here is a short list of sites that have shared in the training of many of our clinical interns:
- Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School
- Counseling Service of Eastern District New York (CSEDNY)
- Manhattan Psychology Group
- Mercy Medical Center
- Mount Sinai Hospital
- North Shore Child and Family Guidance
- Northwell Health Zucker Hillside
- Queens Long Island Community Services
- The Safe Center LI
- Samaritan Daytop Village
- Suffolk Outpatient Treatment Program
- Seafield Services
- South Oaks Hospital
Our students have gained valuable experience outside the classroom, through graduate student assistantships and field placement opportunities, conference and presentation participation.
