This course is designed to be a culmination of the counseling series in the Bachelor of Social Work program. It exposes students to the real work environment and expects students to engage in individual and group counseling therapy using acquired skills and knowledge. Students’ counseling practice is supervised by a competent field instructor or UB social work faculty. Students apply knowledge, skills and principles from classrooms learning into practical work applications in the field. Students are placed in their internship in blocks of time (240 contact hours) in order to provide maximum attention to their learning goals and activities. In the internship, students are expected to integrate knowledge, skills, values and use of the professional self, gained in the previous practice courses and to adhere to ethical standards while receiving weekly supervision.
The internship placement is selected by the Department Chair and Internship Supervisor based on the needs of the students to learn and practice in an agency setting with a diverse client population. The student will focus on applying knowledge, techniques and skills learnt in an effective and ethical manner keeping with the standards of the Social Work profession.