The Intern Experience in the Counseling Field
Ashley Stricker, MA, LPCC
September 17, 2026
In the counseling field, there are multiple routes to becoming a counselor. There are clinical mental health counselors, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, addiction counselors, marriage and family counselors, and more! No matter the route chosen, internships are an essential time for any new counselor. It is the first opportunity to apply what is learned in the curriculum in a real session. At Nexus Counseling Services, we often have interns from various universities like Adams State University (Go Grizzlies!) and UCCS! This Fall, we have two new interns starting with us! We have Jennifer from Adams State University working towards her dual Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling degree, and Amber from UCCS working on her Clinical Psychology degree. We are excited to have them both here at Nexus and see them doing great things in our field!
If you as a client are placed with an intern counselor, what does this mean for you? Interns are heavily supervised throughout their time. Typically, they have a supervisor at the university they attend that they meet with on a weekly basis, they have a clinical supervisor here at Nexus Counseling Services that they also meet with on a weekly basis, weekly Group Supervision, professors, their program peers, and other counselors at Nexus Counseling services as support. The supervision sessions allow the intern an opportunity to bring cases to their supervisor that has been in the field longer, to discuss how to best support you as the client. There is no time in a counselor’s career that they have more support than during internship.
There are many positives of having an intern as your counselor. Interns are passionate and eager to help. Before arriving to internship, the intern has often already taken courses on theory, human development, ethics, diagnosing, and much more. Getting to the internship part of any program is exciting as it is the first time that the education that the intern has worked hard towards can be applied in real settings.
If you get an intern as a counselor, know that they have multiple levels of support to ensure that they provide the best care they can.
Much of what makes a counselor a counselor is the human behind the title. Of course, learning theory and ethics is important, the people that enter the field often have a passion for helping folks through difficult times, improve their mental health, and find solutions. Internship is the time to combine the personal attributes that makes a counselor with their new knowledge about counseling and the human experience.
Ashley Stricker, MA, LPCC
You have taken a pivotal step to start your healing journey, and it would be an honor to walk alongside you on this path. Whatever your struggles are, I will collaborate with you to find path towards healing and wholeness. My goal is to provide space for you to focus on healing, for you to feel seen, heard, and understood. In my work, I do not ask “what us wrong with you?” I ask “what happened to you?” When working with me, you can expect trauma informed and person-centered care that is relational, humanistic, holistic, empowering, compassionate, and warm. I believe that for healing, we need to focus on what is happening in both the mind and the body as they work together so intricately. My approach integrates EMDR focused techniques, somatic therapy, parts work, mindfulness, and neurocounseling! If you have any questions about what any of this means, email me at ashleys@nexuscounseling.org and I would be happy to provide articles or further explanation so that you can be informed. My work focuses on trauma, specifically recovery from sexual violence including sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse, but I work with a range of types of traumas, life issues, and symptoms. I am passionate about my work that focuses on supporting clients through trauma recovery. Whether that trauma is recent, from your childhood or sometime in between. I work with sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse recovery, difficult childhood experiences, PTSD, CPTSD and much more! I also work with depression, anxiety, dissociation, shame, self-worth and empowerment issues. When doing trauma counseling, we move through four phases which include 1) Phase 1: Safety and Stabilization: to learn coping skills and other necessary skills that are needed for deep trauma work. 2) Phase 2: Trauma Processing and integration: this is time dedicated to trauma processing using EMDR techniques, somatics, parts work, neurocounseling and more. 3) Phase 3: Identity and Connection: focuses on reconnecting to others and self, and identity development. This phase emphasizes empowerment. 4) Phase 4: Surviving to Thriving: focuses on post-traumatic growth, living again after trauma, and interventions that promote Neuroplasticity. Reach out if you have any questions!