Located on the Norman campus of the University of Oklahoma, University Counseling Center is the primary mental health center on campus. Services are available for the approximately 29,000 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, as well as faculty and staff. Interns electing this site will be involved in individual and couples/partnered therapy, group therapy, outreach consultation, crisis intervention, and psychological evaluation primarily with the university's students. Limited opportunities also exist for providing services to faculty and/or staff (i.e., crisis intervention). Each resident will be assigned an initial caseload with various presenting problems including, but not limited to, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, adjustment difficulties, sexual orientation, relationship, career, or academic problems. The agency provides primarily brief therapy involving a 12-session per academic year limit; however, opportunities exist for interns to gain experience providing longer-term services.
Interns are encouraged to gain group counseling experience during their internship. Generally interns will co-facilitate a group with a member of the senior staff, but may have the opportunity to co-facilitate a group with another intern based on level of experience. Interpersonal process groups are regularly offered. Other thematic groups (e.g., LGBTQ support, Trauma Survivors) or psychoeducational groups have also been offered based upon client need and availability of facilitators.
Outreach and consultation programming are integral parts of the preventative and developmental emphases of the University Counseling Center. Interns are encouraged to develop and present programs in areas of special interest and to do work with new topics or populations. Interns and senior staff often work in teams in presenting such topics as stress management, test anxiety, procrastination, alcohol and drug awareness, relationship issues, eating disorders, depression, and suicide prevention. The consulting role may involve such activities as working with residence hall staff on crisis intervention and management, providing training for resident advisors, or working directly with groups of students on specific issues.
Psychological testing is often utilized as a part of clinical assessment and evaluation. Interns are expected to gain experience in psychological evaluation through assessment of their own clients or those of other staff members as available. Common assessments are ADHD, LD, and psychodiagnostic evaluations. A wide variety of tests are available for selection as clinically indicated.
