At the Y, we invest in helping everyone reach their fullest potential!
We offer internships and placement opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing a rewarding career in human services. If you’re a Master’s Degree level student seeking a practicum placement within our Counseling Services, TIDES School-Based Counseling, or Kinship Support Services, please review the information below and reach out via email to inquire further.
These placements allow the opportunity to work with a culturally diverse population and variety of mental health symptoms, with exceptional clinical supervision and training.
Counseling Services
Our Counseling Services are clinic based, fee-for-service structure. We provide a professional and welcoming environment for interns and clients within our Counseling Center in Central San Diego, including individual, family and play therapy rooms. Therapeutic work and interventions are based on Family Systems Theory and modalities include individual, couples and families. Master’s level students seeking practicum hours will have the opportunity to work with a variety of cases, presenting issues may include but are not limited to: parent/child relationship, parenting, marital, life transitioning, grief and loss, depression, anxiety, etc.
For more information, click here or contact:
Kelly Dougherty, Social Service Operations Administrator
internships@ymcasd.org
TIDES Program
TIDES (Therapeutic Interventions Designed to Empower Students) provides therapy services to students at 12 different school sites (elementary, middle and high school) in the San Diego Unified School District. Practicum placements with TIDES are a 12-month commitment, 20-25 hours per week. Master’s level students seeking practicum hours will be trained on county paperwork, documentation and billing systems that accompanies each client contact and consultation.
Therapists have regular meetings with students, parents and school staff and are expected to initiate collaborative conversations with their client’s teachers and counselors to obtain feedback on the child’s progress in the classroom. School counseling occurs on site Monday through Friday, during school hours with occasional parent meetings in the evenings. Individual and group supervision are provided weekly and there is a required 1 hour administrative staff meeting each week.
This practicum offers extensive training and prepares Master’s level students to be professional therapists with high legal and ethical standards.
For more information, click here or contact:
Kelly Dougherty, Social Service Operations Administrator
internships@ymcasd.org
Kinship Support Services
The YMCA Kinship Support Program has internship opportunities available for Foundation Year (first year) Master of Social Work students attending accredited programs. Interns are responsible for completing mezzo and macro activities and providing case management services to a caseload of up to 15 clients at a time. Hours are flexible, but interns are expected to complete a minimum of 16 hours per week for 9-12 months. The experience involves the following:
- Collaboration with Child Welfare Services social workers and staff from other community agencies
- Client engagement, home visits, intakes and assessments
- Case Plan Development
- Hard and electronic file maintenance
- Information and referral to appropriate resources
- Participation in team meetings and individual and group supervision
- Assistance with support groups and other events
For more information, click here or contact:
Kelly Dougherty, Social Service Operations Administrator
internships@ymcasd.org
