Truman Wellness Center Practicum Details
Students who seek to complete their practicum with the Truman Wellness Center can expect exposure to a robust and diverse student population including students enrolled in Adult Education, English as a Second Language learners, students completing their two-year associates degree, certificate programs, and a wide variety of continuing education programs. Students who attend Truman come from over 160 countries and speak 90 different languages.
Expectations of interns who are accepted into this placement are expected to adhere to best practices and all clinical directives communicated by their primary supervisors. Interns can expect to have the opportunity to build a caseload concurrently while completing required orientation, trainings assigned throughout the year, weekly individual and group supervision, peer consultation, and direct access to the clinical team who manages the day-to-day operations of the Truman Wellness Center. Interns are expected to begin growing their clinical skills and understand the variety of commuter-college experiences. An emphasis on learning and retaining knowledge of readily available community-based resources and supports is an expectation of all interns as a required part of therapeutic intervention. Interns can expect consistent oversight by licensed clinical staff throughout the year as part of their Advanced term programming.
Ideal Applicants:
- Interns who can demonstrate personal and professional experience
- Individuals who are able to accept critical feedback and increase their self-awareness
- Students who are willing and eager to work with a variety of clinical presentations
- Individuals who demonstrate skill in collaborating with others
- Individuals who demonstrate independence and initiation as a self-starter of tasks and projects they are interested in
- Demonstrate basic professional skills
- Learners who see case management as a critical part of therapeutic intervention
Supervision Philosophy of the Site:
The supervision philosophy of this site makes use of the coaching model. The benefits of the coaching model are to allow the trainee to share their real thoughts and emotions that arise through their experience of being a new clinician in order to gain support and feedback for improving their approaches as time progresses. The coaching model focuses on developing skills for increased growth throughout the supervision period and demands a reasonable amount of openness in order to grow and succeed as a counselor.
From the use of the coaching model, the trainee can hope to gain feelings of empowerment and evidenced-based-skills practice which they can implement into their ongoing counseling sessions.
Fostering communication plays a key role in the supervision provided. As each trainee will be present with interns from other graduate programs, making use of group supervision to learn from other perspectives and practice group consultations for clinical feedback will be crucial.
Supervisors meet with each intern individually one time per week for 1 hour and in a group setting one time per week for 2 hours – totaling 3 supervision hours in total a week. Supervisors also have an open-door policy, meeting with interns additionally throughout the week as needs arise.
Meet the Team!
Karen Caldwell-Littleton, MA, Clinical Director, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. She received her degree in Community Counseling from Roosevelt University in 2001. Previous work experience includes opening the Wellness Center at Truman College in 2011, community based work with children and families, as a clinician in a therapeutic school and program for adolescents and young adults, clinical experience with adults with chronic and persistent mental illness, and part-time private practice for several years. She has been a clinical supervisor for professional staff and trainees in multiple settings.
Karen’s orientation to clinical work is integrated with a significant focus on psychodynamic, existential, and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). Her approach with therapy and supervision is egalitarian and transparent, and she believes that a strong working alliance is critical for meaningful growth to occur and collaboration is key. Trainees that are willing to examine their own biases, grow their self-awareness both personally and professionally, and commit to serving as a change agent reap the most benefits from this training opportunity.
Marissa Cirilo, Assistant Clinical Director, believes supporting students’ understanding of their life experiences can lend significant insight to their thought processes and behaviors. I support students who are seeking a compassionate and brave space to talk about what challenges they are working through. Therapy can be intimidating, however, it can be transformative when we build that trusting relationship with a counselor.
As a supervisor, I believe in a collaborative learning process and encourage interns to participate as much as possible. This is a valuable opportunity in which interns can learn critical skills in a community college situated in one of the most diverse cities in the United States. As a supervisor who was once a graduate student, I value and require interns be receptive to feedback for their areas of growth, and apply critical analysis of their own self awareness and identity both professionally and personally. As a mental health practitioner, I commit to supporting interns empowering themselves to seek therapeutic support for themselves as so much of ourselves can show up in the therapy space. The ability to know when to reach out for help is invaluable and will create longevity in the ever changing and growing field of mental health.
Marissa attended DePaul University’s School of Social Work with a focus on Community Practice.
Dawn Napiorkowski, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, enjoys guiding adolescents, adults, and seniors with a variety of diagnoses including depressive disorders, chronic illness, anxiety disorders, and more.
Dawn is passionate about assisting individuals in becoming their own agents of change through use of various interventions, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, creative interventions such as writing, narrative therapy, or creative arts, as well as helping you build the empowerment to understand, manage, and treat these issues for yourselves, thereby giving you renewed endurance and confidence to face the daily challenges life may throw your way.
Dawn graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work with a focus on Children and Family as well as Migration Studies and can conduct therapy sessions in English or Spanish.
