Student Counselling

Thank you for your interest in completing a practicum placement at Mount Royal University, Student
Counselling Services. Mount Royal University (previously Mount Royal College) was founded in 1910.
Since this time, the university has expanded significantly and now has almost 15,000 students, 13 degree
programs (with 36 majors), and over 1,600 employees. The university offers small classroom settings and
invests in a sense of inclusion for all those on campus.

Student Counselling Services is one part of MRU’s Wellness Services together with Health Services, the
Injury & Prevention Clinic, and the Healthy Campus Team. Student Counselling has five to six full-time
counsellors and a variety of part-time counsellors each year. Our counsellors are either registered with
the College of Alberta Psychologists or the Alberta College of Social Workers. All counsellors also hold
the title of “faculty” at MRU. In addition, we have two wonderful admin staff who support students, faculty,
and counsellors.

MRU students who seek out our services come from a wide array of programs, education phase, ages,
backgrounds, and identities. Common client concerns include stress management, anxiety, depression,
emotion regulation, decision-making, identity, cross-cultural challenges, academic difficulties and
relationships. Though these are more common concerns, students come to us for support on a wide array
of topics.

Practicum Program Structure

Each year, we take practicum students who are completing their Master’s or Ph.D. in the field of Counselling. Our program can accommodate practicum students who require up to 200 direct client hours between September and April. During this time, students will engage in the following:

• Individual counselling in the areas of personal (most common), educational, and career
• Initially observing and co-facilitating individual sessions and working your way up to working independently with client
• Ongoing supervision including the option to consult during a session, planned weekly supervision with your supervisor, and biweekly group supervision with the other practicum students and one supervisor
• Ongoing biweekly case consultations with the full counselling team
• Opportunities to support the larger academic community through co-facilitation of webinars and classroom presentations
• Potential opportunities to co-facilitate group counselling
• Digital recording of sessions (with client consent) for review on your own and with your supervisor
• Biweekly professional development presentations (presented by full-time counsellors and practicum students – one presentation over the course of the practicum)

Practicum students will be supported in reflective practice which focuses on increasing comfort and confidence in individual counselling sessions, practice in the use of microskills, building understanding and application of a theoretical orientation, and working towards your goals for the practicum.

Practicum students must be able to commit to two full days a week in the Fall semester (preferably Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and three full days a week during the Winter term (preferably Tuesday, Wednesday, and one additional day).

Application Requirements

We prefer one document with the following parts:

• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter which includes at least the following:
  • Your theoretical orientation of interest
  • Whether you have completed or plan to complete training in suicide intervention (e.g., ASIST)
  • The requirements of your practicum (e.g., how many direct client hours are needed; requirements of supervision/supervisor)
  • What makes a post-secondary population an area of interest
• Deadline for applications: March 1, 2024
• Please submit applications to scspracticumcoordinator@mtroyal.ca

 Questions? Please contact the Practicum Coordinator: Jennifer McCormick at scspracticumcoordinator@mtroyal.ca