Rationale: Aspire Too values lifelong learning, ongoing professional development, and helping new clinicians develop and hone their skills. Over the years, Aspire Too has mentored and supervised individuals looking to obtain their registration status and has had great success in helping them learn applied skills for clinical counselling. Aspire Too has recently expanded this endeavor, now called The Enhanced Learning Division, to include practicum student learners. We provide Master’s level practicum students with a practicum experience with the dual benefit of being able to provide counselling services to individuals who may not have access to counselling otherwise, due to financial or other access barriers.

Process: Practicum students will be in the office answering phones, completing general duties around the office, co-facilitating groups, and more. Following orientation and training, practicum students will provide clinical counselling to clients. Part of their training and orientation includes sitting in and observing clinical sessions with an experienced and fully qualified counsellor. As such, your counsellor may ask you if you’re comfortable with having a student sit in on your session. You, the client, can decide if a student can observe the session. We respect your right to determine your comfort level and if you do not wish to have a practicum student attend a session, we respect that.

An important aspect of the student’s learning is working directly with clients while obtaining enhanced clinical supervision throughout their practicum. Practicum students at Aspire Too provide counselling services to clients at a greatly reduced rate. This provides a dual benefit for both the client and the practicum student; clients who may have access barriers can work with a practicum student, while at the same time, the student will have a fulfilling practicum experience where they are able to apply skills obtained from their education and enhanced learning at Aspire Too.

Clients who access counselling services from practicum students at Aspire Too should be aware that enhanced supervision of the student may include: having a supervisor in the session, making a recording of the session for supervision later, or discussing the situation and reviewing the notes in supervision. In all cases, confidentiality is of utmost importance and any notes or recordings will be kept in the strictest of confidence. Recordings will be destroyed when the practicum student has completed their training and paper files will be stored in a secured and locked cabinet for the required seven (7) years from their last appointment.

Please note that clients are assigned to the student through the practicum supervisor and some client’s needs are not appropriate for practicum students. Students will discuss with their clients how long their practicum will be and options to transition their file when they are done their practicum.