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Counseling Internships & Practicum at KWR Practices
Grow your clinical skills. Develop your professional identity. Expand your potential.
KWR Practices offers graduate counseling students a supportive, hands-on practicum and internship experience designed to build clinical confidence, strengthen counseling skills, and prepare students for the next stage of their professional development.
Now accepting applications for upcoming practicum and internship placements.
Learn, Grow & Develop as a Counselor
At KWR Practices, practicum and internship are designed to be more than completing required clinical hours. Students are welcomed into a learning environment centered on compassion, collaboration, growth, intentionality, emotional safety, authenticity, empowerment, and professionalism with warmth.
Students receive structured onboarding, hands-on clinical experience, ongoing supervision, opportunities for observation and case consultation, and increasing responsibility as their skills and confidence develop.
What You'll Gain at KWR
Students have opportunities to develop experience in:
Individual, couples, family, and group counseling
Private-practice systems, scheduling, documentation, and client acquisition
Intake interviews and initial assessments;
Treatment planning and goal development
Case conceptualization and diagnostic impressions
Evidence-based clinical interventions
Progress notes and clinical documentation
Risk assessment, crisis response, and safety procedures
Client and case consultation
Professional boundaries and ethical decision-making
Cultural humility and responsive counseling
A Structured Learning Experience
Students aren't expected to arrive knowing everything. KWR's onboarding and training process is designed to gradually introduce students to the clinical and professional responsibilities of counseling practice.
Foundations
Ethics
Confidentiality
Professional Boundaries
Scope of Practice
Crisis & Safety
Practice Systems
Client Aquisition
Clinical Development
Intakes
Case Conceptualization Diagnostic Impressions
Treatment Planning
Documentation
Clinical Skills
Professional Growth
Supervision
Self-Reflection
Counselor Boundaries Emotional Regulation Professional Identity
Private Practice Success
Your First Month
Students begin with structured onboarding before gradually transitioning into greater clinical responsibility. Early training includes practice orientation, ethics and professional boundaries, documentation systems, client consultations, intake procedures, treatment planning, progress notes, clinical expectations, observation, and supervised client work.
Supportive, Developmentally-Focused Supervision
Supervision at KWR Practices is designed to meet students where they are in their development as counselors. Kim utilizes a developmental supervision model and scaffolding approach, building upon each student's existing knowledge while introducing new skills, greater clinical responsibility, and increased independence as competency develops.
Students are encouraged to bring questions related to cases, documentation, theoretical approaches, populations, clinical concerns, countertransference, and other areas of professional development into supervision.
Graduate practicum and internship students at KWR receive weekly, individual, one-hour supervision as part of their placement at no cost.
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Kim Wilson is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Illinois licensed educator. She earned her Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northern Illinois University in 2023, and brings experience working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, families, and groups across multiple behavioral health settings.
Kim's clinical background includes individual, family, couples, and group therapy work with concerns such as anxiety, BPD, bipolar, depression, complex trauma, chronic pain, parenting, perfectionism, schizoaffective disorder, self-esteem, school and career challenges, and self-confidence. Her therapeutic work integrates approaches including person-centered therapy, CBT, EMDR, attachment-based approaches, motivational interviewing, strengths-based interventions, Gestalt, and other integrative modalities.
As a supervisor, Kim uses a developmental approach that balances support, feedback, reflection, and increasing independence as students build their clinical confidence and professional identity.
Who May Be a Good Fit?
KWR Practices welcomes graduate counseling students who are curious, compassionate, reflective, dependable, and ready to grow. Students should be open to feedback, committed to ethical and professional practice, and willing to communicate openly about their learning goals, questions, and areas where they need support.
We Value a Strong Clinical Identity
We believe clinicians do their best work when they have the opportunity to grow into the areas of practice that genuinely interest and energize them.
We’re looking for clinicians who are interested in developing a strong sense of their clinical identity and have a passion for a specific population, concern, or area of clinical interest. Whether your focus is already well established or you’re continuing to deepen your expertise, we value clinicians who are intentional about the work they want to do and the clients they feel most called to support.
Rather than expecting every clinician to be a generalist, we encourage our team members to develop their own areas of focus, pursue meaningful professional growth, and build a caseload that aligns with their strengths and interests.
Important Consideration for Graduate Students
KWR Practices currently operates as a fully virtual practice and has one independently licensed clinical staff member who provides clinical supervision.
Because practicum and internship requirements vary by graduate program, our current practice structure may not meet the placement requirements of every university. Some programs require students to complete a certain percentage of their clinical hours in person, work from a physical clinical site, or train at a site with multiple independently licensed clinicians.
Before applying, we strongly encourage students to review their program’s practicum or internship site requirements and confirm that a virtual placement with KWR Practices would be eligible for approval.
We are happy to provide information about our practice, supervision structure, and training experience to assist students and their graduate programs in determining site eligibility.
Before Beginning Your Placement
Accepted students must meet KWR Practices' onboarding and training requirements as well as the requirements established by their graduate program. Students are responsible for providing KWR with their university's placement requirements and supervisor contact information prior to beginning their placement.
Students should be prepared to:
Maintain required professional liability insurance
Complete required KWR trainings before beginning clinical work
Maintain consistent availability and attendance
Complete documentation within required timelines
Participate in weekly individual supervision
Follow KWR, university, ethical, confidentiality, and professional requirements
Educational Stipend
KWR Practices offers an educational stipend to eligible graduate counseling students during their internship semester(s). Additional information regarding eligibility and stipend structure is provided during the interview and placement process.
KWR Practices values the time and commitment students bring to their clinical training. Students who continue their placement for a second consecutive semester receive an educational stipend, which continues for each consecutive semester they remain in an eligible placement with KWR.
Practicum & Internship Experiences
Practicum
Practicum is designed to help students begin translating classroom learning into clinical practice. Students receive structured onboarding, observation opportunities, foundational clinical training, supervision, and gradually increasing opportunities for direct client work.
Internship
Internship builds upon practicum experience and emphasizes increased independence, a more consistent caseload, stronger case conceptualization and clinical decision-making skills, and preparation for professional practice after graduation.
Interested in Training with KWR?
We're excited to connect with graduate counseling students interested in growing their clinical skills in a supportive private-practice environment. Applications are considered based on placement availability, university requirements, training needs, and potential fit with KWR Practices.
To apply, please submit the following via email to kim@kwrpractices.com:
Resumé
Cover letter
Expected practicum and internship semesters
Anticipated start and end dates
University/site requirements
Please prepare to provide 2-3 professional references during the application process
What Happens Next
Once your email you application materials listed above, KWR Practices will review your materials, graduate program requirements, anticipated placement dates, and current student availability. If your training needs appear to align with an available placement, you may be contacted to move forward in the interview process.
Please note: Submission of an application does not guarantee an interview or placement. Placement decisions are based on current availability, program requirements, training needs, and fit with KWR Practices.
