CLINICAL TRAINING AND SUPERVISION PROGRAMS

The Pastoral Counseling and Education Center offers two different types of post graduate training and supervision programs:

1) A full-time and a part-time Residency Program; and
2) An Externship Program.

We do not provide clinical experiences for students still in a graduate degree program unless their school has a contractual agreement with our Center for a clinical internship or practicum.

Our staff supervisors are Texas board approved Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers, and Licensed Psychologists, as well as being supervisors with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The Center is accredited by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the Samaritan Institute. It is a continuing education provider approved by the Texas state boards for LPC, LMFT, and LCSW.

Our philosophy is to integrate spirituality and theology with psycho-systemic theory as we work with individuals, couples, and families. We are delighted to share our expertise with persons desiring a faith sensitive and clinically competent counseling setting in which to see clients and to broaden their knowledge of spirituality and counseling disciplines.

Residency Program

The Residency Program is designed for those who have a temporary state license in a counseling discipline. The program offers an opportunity to see clients, receive weekly supervision, as well as opportunities to integrate theology/spirituality with therapeutic theory and skill development.

Participants in the Residency Program can either be in the full-time track (40+ hours a week) or the part-time track (20+ hours a week). Full-time Residents are expected to spend full time at the Center (including some evenings and/or Saturday mornings) to complete their required clinical, supervisory, and administrative hours for licensure. Part-time Residents are expected to work Monday through Thursday, 5-9 PM and on Saturdays, 9 AM to 1 PM. Both full-time and part-time Residents must be at the Center on Fridays from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM for a day of administrative meetings, clinical and theological training, and individual, small group and collaborative team supervision.

FAQ about the Residency Program

1. Does the Resident get paid?
Answer: Residents are paid a monthly commission of the collected fees of their clients. The Center provides practice liability insurance. There are no other paid benefits.

2. How much time is required?
Answer: See above paragraph description of the full and part-time Residents expectations.

3. When in the year do Residencies begin? End?
Answer: Residencies are contingent on the Center’s clinical caseload and funding. Residencies begin whenever the resident is accepted and a supervisor assigned. Residents are expected to complete their required hours within their accreditation and/or licensing board’s requirements. There is an annual evaluation of each Resident to determine if they will continue in the program.

4. Are there any charges to the Resident?
Answer: The Resident is charged a weekly fee for their training experience.

5. Can a Resident work in a satellite office?
Answer: After the first year it may be possible for a Resident to work in a satellite office.

6. How does a Resident get clients? Expected client load?
Answer: Residents receive intakes through the Center and they are expected to generate referrals themselves. Full-time Residents are expected to eventually build to 30 client hours a week. Part-time Residents are expected to build to a 16 client hours a week.

7. Is there a Center clinical theoretical orientation?
Answer: Our therapists work from well recognized psycho-systemic models of individual, couple, family, play, and group therapy. The Center uses “empirically supported” treatment modalities.

8. How are faith/spiritual/theological issues integrated with counseling theory?
Answer: Our Center is committed to the healing of mind, body, spirit and community. Our therapists are committed to understanding and respecting various religious perspectives and if desired by the client, integrate these views into the therapeutic process. Through our weekly training programs we are committed to ongoing professional integration of psychology and spirituality. Examples of how we integrate spirituality and psychotherapy can be found in the following two books: Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy by Kenneth I. Pargament (2007) and Introduction to Pastoral Counseling by Loren Townsend (2009).

9. Does the Center adhere to a particular faith perspective?
Answer: The Center’s faith history is grounded in an inclusive Judeo-Christian tradition. The Center was started in 1968 by the greater Dallas Community of Churches. Our staff comes from various faith and religious traditions. We see clients form all or no faith traditions.

10. Should Residents have formal theological training?
Answer: Some of our residents do have formal theological training but most do not. Those who do have formal theological training must also qualify for state licensure or professional certification. We do expect Residents to have a faith community connection and we want them to be “respectfully curious” about faith/spiritual issues.

Externship Program

The Externship Program provides post-graduate individual and/or small group supervision and supervision of supervision for persons seeking clinical certification in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and/or the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy or for persons needing clinical supervision hours for state licensure. Externs provide their own liability insurance and counseling caseload in a setting apart from the Center. The Extern receives weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly individual and/or small group supervision. There is an hourly fee for supervision.

Additional Information

For more information about either the Residency Program or the Externship Program e-mail your questions to the Director of Training at residency.pcec@att.net. Resumes can also be sent to this same e-mail address.