Internships

Internships at Taproot Counseling Services

Taproot’s internship program is geared toward students interested in experiencing and learning about private practice operation, business administration, and marketing, in addition to building clinical skill and experience. Interns are required to become EMDR-trained and to meet the minimum hours requirements from their university. Beyond that, interns have a high level of autonomy in terms of things like caseload, schedule and location (telehealth, in person, hybrid), client populations/issues, trainings and continuing education, and coaching on building a private practice that fits your career goals. Upon intern graduation, clients are at choice to transfer to another Taproot intern or follow their clinician into private practice, and Taproot supports and facilitates this transition.

You may be a good fit for an internship with Taproot if you:

  • Are interested in becoming an EMDR provider and working with trauma

  • Plan to be in part or full time private practice after graduation

  • Have some life experience and/or are entering counseling as a second career

  • Are proactive, self-directed, and like a balance of independent and collaborative work

  • Are eager to receive collaborative, supportive, and sometimes challenging supervision

  • Communicate proactively and in a timely manner about schedule changes, outside commitments, and any concerns that may arise

  • Value the opportunity to provide low-fee therapy to the community

Apply Here

Helpful Info for Prospective Interns:

How to Apply for a Taproot Internship:

  • First step: Fill out our Internship Application Form

  • Second Step: Selected candidates will be invited to schedule a follow-up video interview

  • Application Dates:

    • Fall Quarter Start Dates: Applications accepted October 1st - January 31st the prior year. You are encouraged to apply early, as spots may fill before January 31st.

    • Winter, Spring, and Summer quarter start dates: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.

Supervision: Your primary supervisor will be Katie Stickney Watson, LMHC, the owner of this practice. Katie is occasionally joined by “supervisors in training” — fully licensed clinicians who have received at least 15 hours of training in supervision and are accruing their 25 experience hours to become an approved supervisor in WA. If there are any supervisors in training during your internship, you will receive some of your supervision from them, and this will be closely supervised by Katie.

EMDR training: Taproot Counseling is an EMDR-based practice. Clients are at choice as to how much (if at all) EMDR is directly incorporated into their work, but the theoretical orientation of EMDR is an important part of how we provide therapy in general. Therefore, interns are required to become EMDR trained before or during their first quarter of internship. Interns are at choice as to where they get trained, as long as it’s an EMDRIA-approved trainer.

Benefits to Intern: At this time we are unable to provide a payment or stipend for intern work. We aim to provide other non-monetary benefits to interns such as: being able to provide much-needed low-fee therapy to the community; receiving quality supervision; receiving in-house trainings; the ability to graduate with a ready-to-go private practice and a starting caseload (clients are welcome to follow you if they wish); and access to discounted supervision, EMDR Consultation, and trainings post-graduation if that’s of interest.

Secondary/Supplemental Placements: Interns at Taproot are expected to commit to Taproot being your only internship site. If you are already placed at another site and wish to add Taproot as a supplemental site, you are welcome to fill out our internship form, but please know that only in very rare cases do we accept interns in this position. If you feel that your Taproot internship isn’t meeting any of your expectations or needs, you are encouraged to speak with your supervisor as soon as possible so we can address these concerns together. If we determine that the concerns cannot be resolved you will have a choice whether to continue with Taproot or transfer fully to a different site. In the latter case, your Taproot clients will be at choice as to whether they follow you to your new site or are transferred to other Taproot clinicians.

Questions? Please email Katie at katie@taprootcs.com if you have any questions prior to applying!

State Credentials:

Certifications:

  • EMDRIA Certified Therapist

  • EMDRIA Approved Consultant

  • Neuroscience-Informed Therapy Certification