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Running head: INTERNSHIP SELF-EVALUATION

Internship Self-Evaluation

Elizabeth Cuttle

Department of Counseling, Wake Forest University

CNS 744: Internship I

Dr. David Johnson

December 4, 2022
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Internship Self-Evaluation

My time spent with clients, peers, and supervisor, and colleagues served as an invaluable

experience in my growth as a counselor. For instance, I spent numerous hours with my site

supervisor and colleagues at my internship site, which allowed me the opportunity to observe

their counseling techniques and consult when needed. Also, in my practicum experience, I only

worked with children, but I grew my skills with both children and adults at my current internship

site. Moreover, receiving feedback from both my university supervisor and site supervisor

allowed me to grow in my counseling skills and reflect on my sessions with clients. Similarly,

hearing feedback from my peers was helpful because it provided diverse points of view on my

cases. It was also helpful to hear case conceptualizations from my peers because it provided me

with an opportunity to help my peers process a diverse array of clients and issues. Lastly, time

spent with my clients provided me the chance to develop my counseling skills with both children

and adults. Having the opportunity to provide counseling to my clients offered me a window into

their worlds, increasing my empathy for clients on many different life paths.

My internship experiences this semester increased my counseling skills competency in

several areas. First, I demonstrated improvement in basic counseling and interviewing skills,

such as reflection of feeling, reflection of meaning, open questions, and summarizing.

Specifically, I gained experience working with adults, since I solely worked with children at my

practicum site. I was also granted much more independence at my internship site, which allowed

me to grow in my autonomy as a counselor. Moreover, I demonstrated skill in utilizing person-

centered skills to respond to clients’ experiences of trauma. This was accomplished by using

counseling skills such as nonjudgmental listening, genuineness, and unconditional positive

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regard. Clients often felt comfortable and open with speaking to me about their personal traumas

and stressors due to my warm and caring presence in the room.

Furthermore, my internship experience also allowed me the opportunity to increase my

group counseling skills. At my internship site, I helped created and co-facilitate a group for teens

centered around tabletop roleplay games and improving social skills. Each week, my colleague

and I presented the group with a new challenge in the roleplay game, which had various elements

of social skills embedded throughout (i.e., problem solving, conflict management, working

together as a team). At the end of each session, the teens were able to apply what they learned in

the roleplay game to their everyday lives. This was an invaluable experience for me because I

was able to witness firsthand how being a part of a counseling group can pave the way for

incredible change.

Moreover, I also improved my competencies with the documentation side of counseling.

The progress notes at my internship site (a private practice) looked vastly different than my

progress notes at my practicum site (an agency). I was able to adapt to the changes and write

progress notes in a way that differed from how I had originally learned at the agency setting in

practicum. I improved my competencies with diagnosing clients and completing comprehensive

clinical assessments. Lastly, I conducted myself professionally and ethically throughout my

internship experience, as I learned about the private practice’s policies and procedures.

I possess several key counseling strengths stemming from the course objectives. One

strength of mine is displaying a genuine and caring presence with my clients. I believe my clients

truly felt heard when they spoke with me because of my listening skills and ability to reflect their

thoughts and feelings. Another strength of mine is keeping up with documentation and properly

documenting counseling sessions. I made sure to keep up with clients’ progress notes and
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complete them in an appropriate timeframe after each session. Lastly, I possess strength in

responding appropriately to personal traumas. Many of my clients had experienced trauma, so I

demonstrated the ability to appropriately respond to their traumas in a nonjudgmental and

supportive manner.

In addition to my strengths, I also detected several areas of growth for my next clinical

experience. One area I would like to grow in involves reflecting more feeling and meaning,

rather than content. I tended to reflect content far more often than feeling or meaning, and I

would like to allow my future clients a chance to express their feelings further and connect

deeper meanings. Moreover, another area of growth for me is to be comfortable with emotions

arising in sessions. I sometimes felt uncomfortable when clients began to cry or outwardly

express emotions. Although I have improved some in this area since practicum, I still would like

to see myself grow even further. This would entail providing the client ample time and space to

experience and process their emotions, rather than changing the subject. Lastly, another area of

growth for me is to feel more comfortable in sessions with adults. I realized during my internship

experience this semester that I prefer working with kids and adolescents, rather than adults.

Therefore, I would like to grow in my confidence and skill set in working with adults.

Throughout the semester, I made significant progress toward my learning goals. One of

my learning goals was to complete weekly self-journaling pertaining to my thoughts, behaviors,

and emotions of my counseling experiences, in order to increase self-awareness and handle any

personal triggers that may arise. I found this experience to be extremely valuable because it

allowed me the chance to separate myself from my clients and process my emotions when heavy

topics arose with clients. Furthermore, I also demonstrated competences in utilizing available

opportunities (i.e., attending trainings and workshops) to develop and grow as a counselor. I
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participated in several trainings and workshops throughout the semester, which helped me grow

as a professional. Some topics included CBT, eating disorders, non-suicidal self-harm, and

psychopharmacology. Moreover, I made progress toward my learning goal of increasing

competence in sand tray therapy this semester. This was accomplished by reading a book about

sand tray therapy, as well as implementing the practice with my clients.

I have several new learning goals as I continue working with clients at my internship site

next semester. One new learning goal for my internship is to place more emphasis on

collaborating closely with parents. Although I interacted with parents, I would like to involve

them in the process even more, and possibly conduct family counseling sessions. I am looking

forward to initiating collaboration with families of my clients and providing consultation. Also, I

would like to improve my confidence in working with adults. I realized that I am much more

comfortable and confident when working with children, and I would like to feel this way with

adults, too. Another new learning goal for next semester is to focus on reflecting meaning more

often with clients. I am skilled at reflecting content and feeling, but I would like to reflect more

meaning in sessions in order to go deeper with the client. In addition to these new goals, I would

also like to continue working on my goals from this past semester. I found journaling to be

extremely beneficial to my wellbeing, so I would like to continue this habit. I would also like to

continue to learn more about sand tray therapy and continue to implement it in sessions with

clients. I only utilized sand tray techniques with children this semester, but I would also like to

try using this technique with adults, too. Moreover, it is also important to continue attending

trainings and workshops in order to grow in my professional counseling competence. Overall,

my internship experience provided me with an excellent experience in the world of counseling at

a private practice, and I am looking forward to what next semester of internship has in store.