46
Internal Practicums
Details regarding Practica and the department clinic, the Brief Therapy Institute (BTI), are
available in the Policies and Procedures Manual. Policies and Procedures are distributed
each trimester to students attending practicum and are available online at
Nova Southeastern University and the Department of Family Therapy require that all
students complete two HIPAA course requirements found on
Blackboard before seeing
clients in the clinic. Also, all students are required to complete Background checks which
include fingerprinting during the first week of the term, and prior to seeing clients. Contact
the Internship Coordinator for more information.
HIPAA
Nova Southeastern University and the Department of Family Therapy require that all
students successfully complete the two NSU HIPAA certificate requirements during their
first term in the program, prior to seeing clients. These programs are uploaded on each
student’s Blackboard at the beginning of the first trimester. Certificates must be printed,
name entered in BLUE, and submitted to the DFT Internship Coordinator.
Background checks and fingerprinting are required of ALL students and must be completed
during the first two weeks of enrollment. Students will contact the DFT Internship
Coordinator for detailed information on these procedures are also located at
Client Contact Hours
In order to graduate, all students must document that they have a minimum of 1000
hours of direct client contact hours. At least 500 of the 1000 required hours must be with
couples and/or families present in the room.
Doctoral students who have a license in MFT or another mental health filed, or who obtain
the license during their doctoral program, may petition the program to waive some of the
required 1000 direct client contact hours.
However, waiving part of this client contact hour
requirement does not release a student from completing all of the practicum or internship
requirements of the program.
In order for a waiver request of client contact hours to be
approved, the student must also provide a copy of their supervisor’s vita and credentials.
In order for their supervision to count, these credentials must indicate that the previous
supervisor was licensed in the mental health filed AND had appropriate credentials for
supervision.
If a waiver request is approved, students
still are required to document a minimum of 100
in-the-room client contact hours with individuals, couples, and/or families during their time
as a student in the program
before
beginning clinical internship. At least 50 of these hours
must be accrued at the Brief Therapy Institute (BTI) Practicum hours may be included in
the total. In order to count, all 100 direct client contact hours must be supervised by
AAMFT Approved Supervisor, who will sign and document that the hours submitted are
accurate. Students must follow all BTI policies and procedures.
For client contact hours obtained outside of BTI, documentation of client contact and
supervision hours must include the date, type of session (i.e., family, couple, or
individual), length, and location of each session. Students must have written case notes
for all sessions listed. The necessary forms are available online at the SHSS student
resources website. Students must submit their completed forms to the Internship
Coordinator at the end of EACH term to ensure progress is recorded and the student file
