Training Opportunities
The Counseling Center offers practicum and internship opportunities for master's level students and practicum opportunities for doctoral level students.
The Counseling Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato offers master’s and doctoral-level practica and internships for counseling, psychology, and social work graduate students. The center typically takes a multidisciplinary cohort of 6 – 8 trainees with varying degrees of experience, training, and program. Training positions follow the academic calendar, beginning with the start of the fall semester and continuing through the end of spring semester with breaks while classes are not in session (winter break and spring break).
The majority of clients seen at the Counseling Center range in age from 18 - 28, and include undergraduate and graduate students. Trainees will get experience working with diverse clients and will receive training in providing multiculturally competent services. As a large public institution, the Counseling Center encounters a wide diversity of presenting problems, types and degrees of psychopathology, and levels of functioning ranging from developmental and situational concerns through relatively mild mental health conditions to more serious conditions. The range and severity of client issues is comparable to that of a general adult outpatient population. The most common presenting concerns are depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. Training positions typically follow the academic calendar, beginning with the start of fall semester in late August and continuing through mid-May (with time off for winter and spring breaks). There may be an opportunity for trainees to begin training in May 2024 and continue into the 2024-2025 academic year.
Trainees in the Counseling Center will spend the majority of their time providing individual counseling to students. Co-leading groups with professional staff may also be available. Trainees are also expected to provide two outreach presentations on a psycho-educational topic during the year, and may volunteer to work on other outreach, programming, or research efforts offered through the Counseling Center as time and interest permit. Trainees will receive two hours of individual supervision from doctoral-level Counseling Center staff, as well as close to two hours of group supervision per week.
For trainees applying for pre-doctoral internship sites for the following year, an optional internship mentoring component is offered. Several of our staff psychologists are available to provide help with navigating the application process, writing personal essays, reviewing essays and curriculum vitae, and conducting mock interviews (both group and individual). Specific topics and activities to be addressed are determined by each student cohort. Our trainees have been highly successful in securing pre-doctoral internships in a variety of settings including university counseling centers, community mental health centers, hospitals, and correctional facilities.
The Minnesota State Mankato Counseling Center is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS), one of only three IACS-accredited centers in Minnesota and one of less than 200 accredited in the nation. Clinical staff at the Counseling Center consists of six full-time psychologists with a variety of theoretical orientations who have specialized in university mental health.
Please note that students who have previously received counseling from the Minnesota State Mankato Counseling Center may not be eligible for the internship program.
Interested candidates should submit an application, including letter of intent, resume or vita, and unofficial graduate transcripts.
The Counseling Center follows the individual graduate programs set application deadlines. Applications will continue to be accepted until all positions are filled. For questions or interest regarding future training opportunities, please contact Dr. Miranda Hellenbrand at miranda.hellenbrand@mnsu.edu.
View highlights to our counseling training program here.
