Clinical Internship Program
Nightingale Counselling is recruiting a new cohort of interns for both online and in-person counselling at our Granville Street clinic. We are seeking interns who are exceptionally curious and interested in the work and craft of counselling therapy. We invite both our interns and our existing staff to practice this curiosity actively, in supervision, consultation, and casual conversation at the clinic. Dialogue and engagement with the core concerns of our practice is central to the Nightingale ethos. Critical consideration of the practice and philosophies underpinning our discipline’s past and future impact is a core concern of ours, and we hope to invite interns who are excited by this process.
We are a highly integrated, supportive practice and research clinic with a very experienced supervision team.
Diversity
At Nightingale Counselling we are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that represents the community we proudly serve. We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, including Indigenous applicants, all genders, nationalities, and persons with disabilities.
Applicants must be legally entitled to work in Canada (i.e. Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, or person who has been granted refugee status).
Requirements
You must be a current Masters-level student in a professional clinical program.
You must be available for in-office counselling work in addition to online sessions.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Excellent organizational skills
Interested in non-manualized, client centered therapy
Social justice and harm reduction orientations
Commitment to ethical practice including collegial consultation, and self-care
The Nightingale Internship Model
Our theory of the role and outcomes in practicum programming is an extension of our organizational philosophy and our ethical commitments to counselling therapy. Because we recognize that private practice is an essential pillar in mental health care, we also recognize that it is an essential site to learn on for students choosing this path. Counsellors and interns at Nightingale can expect different distributions of populations and problems than would be expected to be distributed in agencies, nonprofits, social work environments, and biomedical institutions, but these are not lesser or “easier” problems. All population- and problem-sets have nuances, and we take seriously our role in skillfully guiding newcomers to the field towards mastery with the kinds of people and experiences that show up in the private practices of Canadian Counsellors.
Supervision and Alignment
Supervision mirrors our philosophical and pedagogical stance, and is therefore isomorphic with our vision of good work. It is a counsellor-centered practice sensitive and flexible to what emerges as the essential qualities of the therapists practice. Supervision of practicum students is therefore non-directive and process-based, with a dual-focus on “the case” and the person of the therapist. We are modality-agnostic, and encourage the talents, passions, identities and styles of the supervisee to be discovered and mastered in what will inevitably become a unique praxis.
Practicum Structure
Student Counsellors will be provided a structured, cohort-based program which will provide the necessary volume and regularity of clients to achieve our learning outcomes, with a 4:1 (or better) ratio of supervision to client hours.
Students will be provided with weekly individual supervision throughout the duration of their placement, 4—6 topic based workshops on counselling essentials and will participate in clinical group supervision with other students and our team of associate Counsellors. They will also receive occasional access to individual mentorship by the clinical directors, Shane Trudell and hart caplan.
Clinical Supervisor for 2023 Internship Cohorts: Dr. Wayne Dykstra
Wayne Dykstra has been a psychotherapist since 2008. Following completion of his MA degree at Seattle University, he worked in non-profit community mental health settings for four years in the Seattle area. In January 2012 he shifted to doctoral studies in the History and Philosophy of Psychology at University College Dublin, Ireland. While there he was an Assistant Professor in the Psychology and Equality Studies Department in both their graduate and undergraduate departments. In early 2015 Wayne completed his dissertation on the historical development and transfer of Liberation Psychology outside Latin America. Upon returning to Seattle, Wayne transitioned to work in private practice and continues to do so presently. In August 2021 Wayne and his family moved to Vancouver. Presently Wayne continues to work in private practice, while at the same time has joined Nightingale Counselling with the hope of engaging in the ongoing development of counselling theory and practice. The Nightingale philosophy and practice is deeply aligned with Wayne’s background in Existential-Phenomenology and together we hope to assist Counsellors-in-training gain a deep appreciation for the complexity and nuance of this work.