Hey you, don't struggle alone.
Intern Counsellor Resources
This page is for students of College of Allied Educators (CAE) who we partner with to refer you clients for practicum. Please go through CAE if you wish to intern with us - we will not be able to take on individual requests.
For those who already qualify as a counsellor and wish to volunteer / work on a part-time free-lance basis, please see our resident counsellor program instead :)
First of, thanks for volunteering your time for the welfare of Singaporeans in need of support.
Below you will find the steps prior to intake as well as guidelines for practice.
Joining us as a Counsellor
1. Intake Forms
Before joining us as a volunteer counsellor, we require you to have your own clinical supervisor arranged.
If you've got that done, then do complete and return the form below signed to our email itallstartshearsg@gmail.com.
2. Join our Referral Group
Once you've completed the above, let us know and we will add you into our whatsapp referral group.
Currently we have one site placement supervisor to sign off on any documents needed:
-
Hernping - Founder, Executive Director (Psychologist)
And an administrative staff that helps with enquiries and referrals Monday to Friday 10 - 5pm and Saturdays before 1pm:
-
Nicole - Head of Operations
3. Taking Referrals through IASH - 4 steps okay?
Essentially, we hope that through this practicum with us you get the experience of running your own little "private practice", with referrals coming through us of course :)
This means that you'll not just honing your counselling skills, but other important skills counsellors need like administration, and out-of-session client communication too.
Step 1: Taking a referral
-
Referral description (anonymised) will be shared in the WhatsApp Referral group and on a First Come First Serve basis.
-
Take only the ones you're comfortable with
-
After you have claimed a case, we will share the personal details with you after that privately.
Step 2: Contact Client and arrange first session!
-
Contact the client with your preferred mode (email / phone).
-
Find a common time between you both and share the link to the zoom / heyhi / google meet sessions. You can also arrange to run in-person sessions with CAE.
Step 3: Before the first session starts: Request payment!~
-
As you are aware, we charge a one-time admin-fee to clients which gives them access to 5 sessions with you, valid up to 3 months.
-
Prior to first session, do send the client this link for payment.
-
This mimics reality where we do need clients to pay prior to the session too - otherwise, we as counsellors will lose income from no-shows or clients messing up our practice schedules too.
-
We hope that you get a feel for the private practice vibe through this okay?
Step 4: Updating our admin team (IMPORTANT)
-
Once client has paid (e.g. send you proof of payment / inform you that they've paid) do update our admin team that you've arranged for the first session and have received payment
-
Our admin team will follow up with you if we haven't heard from you after one week.
-
But we do hope that you take initative in updating us to save us this time on following-up!
FYI we have had to remove intern counsellors from the program who are slow at reporting / coordinating with client / did not confirm payment etc. We try to be forgiving but on repeated reminder we will have to ask the inter counsellor to leave the program okay?
4. Forms to send client
Yes, we know there seems to be one thousand forms you need to manage. We hope this makes it easy for you.
1. Informed consent (important)
This is your confidentiality contract between you and the client. You don't need to send this to us nor to CAE - but it's an important mutual agreement between the counsellor and counsellee.
As counselling is done online, you can use a digital informed consent too (example below - create your own please). Some people will include an indemnity clause in their informed consent if you choose to include too.
Example Digital Informed Consent here (DO NOT use this link for your own consent)
You can view more of the workflows below:
2. Practicum log
There are two recommended ways of record-keeping and getting sign-off for your hours through our referrals:
-
Send the client your practicum sheet to sign off directly. This is the simplest and most hassle-free way.
-
Get our site placement supervisors to sign off on your practice sheet. Note that this requires proof of number of sessions / hours. BCC therapy.itallstartshear@gmail.com in your communications with the client.
3. CAE intake form (AVOID PLEASE)
In the CAE practicum pack, there is an option to use the client intake form
We do not recommend using this form as it is invasive for clients. We have experienced complaints / drop-outs when students have sent such forms.
If you insist on using this form, we advise you to seek practicum elsewhere.
4. Lastly, end of practicum documents.
When you are completing your practicum, please contact us on our whatsapp admin account. We will update you on the documents you need our sign off to finish up okay!
Additional: Planning follow-up sessions
After accepting a referral, we leave it in your trusty hands to arrange the next 4 follow-up sessions (5 sessions in total) with the client directly. Below are some basic guidelines on how to do so.
-
Can check with client at end of intake session on the expected frequency (weekly, monthly etc).
-
If client wishes to set a time at that point in time, then do so :)
-
Otherwise, ask client to inform you directly when they want a follow-up session.
Reminder: Practice Ethically!
Enough said!
At this stage you have a pretty good understanding of ethical codes of practice. Some things worth repeating:
-
Know the limits of confidentiality - harm to self, others, crime, law.
-
Don't abandon a client - if you have difficult with a case, let our placement supervisors know and they can refer.
-
Crisis Management: do check in early with your clinical supervisor on their preferred mitigation / crisis procedures should you find yourself with a client at risk.
If ever in doubt, do feel free to bring up client concerns in the group, or to your own clinical supervisors, or to the placement supervisors privately if you wish.
We also have a Resident Counselling Consultant - Varian from The Relational - who can take queries or discuss challenging scenarios.
Client Extension beyond 5 sessions
If client wishes to continue with you after 5 sessions, do let the admin know.
Client will pay another round of $10 admin fee which provides them access to another 5 more sessions with you. Do communicate with the client if you have less than 3 months remaining to have these 5 sessions with them.
If client wishes to extend but you're nearing the end of practicum, do let them know we can also refer them to another counsellor okay?
Good to know: Our Partner: Mindside.sg
Also, just sharing a useful resource from our partners.
Mindside.sg is a non-profit funded by Ministry of Health Transformation (MOHT). They are also affiliated with North East Medical Group.
If you have a client who requires medications, diagnosis or referral letters, they can assist.
-
Subsidised in-person counselling (1st session free, follow-up $25 - 50)
-
Subsidised psychiatric medication with GP clinics from North East Medical Group (NEMG)
-
Links to Changi General Hospital Psychiatric Department
If you'd like to explore these options for your client, do let our Site Placement Supervisors know.
Feel free to join other parts of IASH :)
There are various ongoing activities we welcome you to join if you're interested in:
1. Monthly catchups at the IASH resident counselling clinic - just to get to know each other and talk about cases, etc. It's a friendly catchup!
2. Our CAE intern counsellors are also involved in a Singapore-wide government project with mindline.sg. It's called "Ask a Therapist". There, they help to tackle mental health questions from youths. You'll get access to latest evidence based guides and get to build a public profile of yourself as a counsellor too.
Just let our admins know if you're interested ok!