Internship EXPERIENCES:
Internship in Grief, Trauma & Loss

"In searching for the right internship there was much we desired. One aspiration was to broaden and hone our counseling expertise through having diverse clientele and situations. Another major component was to experience, learn, and grow in working as partners and spouses in life. Since we plan to be partners in our business which will include having a private counseling practice serving couples, groups, organizations, etc., we hoped the internship would provide a forum for us to cultivate our talents together.

Paula and Ross

The goals and objectives of our internship were to be challenged and growthrough those challenges, having and experiencing a fuller understanding of counseling, cultivating our own styles, and developing an awareness of what all that means in being present as counselors. Also, as stated previously, we were interested in experiencing a wide range of clients' ethnicity, culture, age, gender and gender orientation. We also desired to work with groups, couples, and individuals.

The internship included working at St.Vincent Regional Cancer Center counseling patients who were receiving radiation and chemotherapy, seeing families of patients, as well as facilitating a Grief Group and a Caregivers' Group. We also co-facilitated two grief groups for PMS Hospice; one addressing the loss of partners and spouses, and the other concentrating on the loss of a parent or other significant loved one.

Another venue that broadened our horizons enormously was counseling at Job Corps in Albuquerque , counseling students there, most of who are Native American and Hispanic. Southwestern College Counseling Center also provided a wide range of experience for us as we enjoyed clients from many ethnicities and gender identification, as well as, growing in the ability to counsel individuals and couples. All of these venues provided a rich and grounding foundation for us, together they were amazingly profound."