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About the
Overall Training Experience
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I would
absolutely recommend this traineeship/internship to others! My experience
at the Center for Creative Growth was invaluable to me. Aside from the
supervision, the overall feel of the place, the spiritual/theoretical
orientation, the groundedness and caring of the staff, the quality of the
group supervision meetings, and the integrity of the Center and everyone
working in it contributed greatly to my growth as a practitioner and a
person.
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I would definitely recommend this internship to others. I
have had a wonderful experience at the Center for Creative Growth. I’ve
gained so much by being here! I have appreciated the support and
encouragement to explore personal issues that come up in the work. I think
the training has been excellent and essential to my development of my
personal therapy style. I have felt very nurtured as an intern here. I
felt from the outset that the values of CCG matched well with my own. The
traineeship far exceeded my expectations.
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I highly recommend the Center for Creative Growth as an
external field placement site. I know I have made friends for life here
and my professional advancement as a therapist has grown by leaps and
bounds.
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I came as a seedling and CCG provided compost, plenty of
water, and lots of sunlight. Now I’m a green, healthy, growing plant. It’s
clear to me what this traineeship gave to me, so I can only imagine that
someone else would gain similar benefits. I must say that it is hard to
imagine that the level of support —spiritual, personal, and professional —
could be met anywhere else.
About the
Supervision
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The most valuable thing I’ve gained from the internship at
the Center for Creative Growth (CCG) is consistent support. I have felt
supported both as a therapist and as an individual over the year from
everyone on the staff. This support has taken many forms, as: constructive
criticism, training, availability to talk, encouraging me to explore
personal issues, celebrating my achievements, having confidence in me,
being willing to process difficult issues that arise, and a commitment to
providing what I think has been high quality supervision at all times.
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Hands down -- the
quality, consistency, and integrity of the individual supervision was the
strongest element of the training program for me. I found my weekly
supervision meetings very helpful—particularly as a place where I could
check in about how I was feeling about my practice and my competencies as
a therapist. Supervisors gave me invaluable feedback, tips, suggestions,
and more importantly, support.
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I enjoyed receiving
supervision from all the licensed staff. It’s made for a wonderful
experience to have guidance from each supervisor, each with unique gifts
and perspectives to share. I loved that I received both individual and
group supervision and felt fortunate to have personal guidance as well as
a group training experience. None of my colleagues (at other placements)
were so lucky.
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I was concerned about
getting enough quality supervision. It turns out that for every 5 client
hours per week that I have done, not only do I have the individual
supervision hour, the two group supervision hours, but I have the benefit
of additional supervision as well. Somewhere between 15-60 minutes per
client of additional time was spent by my supervisors giving me feedback
on my taped sessions and case notes, addressing specific areas within the
session that either could have been done differently, or were done
extremely well.
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I have received a lot
of individual attention and support. I have always been encouraged to find
my own voice and style of being a therapist.
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Beyond what has been
required by either the State Board or JFK, my supervisors have given me
their time over and over again – in a warm, nonjudgmental and caring and
respectful way -- to help me personally with my communication skills and
with learning to set firm boundaries. They encourage my conscious
participation in all things and make the process fun and very creative. I
have found them to be authentic and patient. I respect them for the
integrity and commitment they bring to their roles as my supervisors.
About the
Skills Gained
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I’ve learned a lot of specific tools to use in therapy, such
as questions to ask, how to use pastels, batakas, Gestalt chair work, etc.
I’ve also been encouraged to ask the bigger, more broad questions like,
“How can I hold this client in her totality?” I’ve also been invited to
share my personal issues that may be helping or holding back my work with
clients.
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I feel a deepening in
my client work and a deepening in myself. I’ve been learning here-and-now
process kind of work, and I’ve been learning how to work with negative
transference. I’m trusting myself more, feeling more solid in my tools,
and having enough confidence to be creative with clients, as well as being
able to deviate from traditional and specific tools in ways that are
helpful and meaningful to my clients.
About the
Population Served
About the Sense
of Community
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I’ve found the spiritual foundation of the center to be
extremely valuable to me. I feel as though I’ve grown as a person
being a part of this spiritual community. I feel as though the staff at CCG is composed of individuals who are all striving for consciousness in
their own lives as well as striving to help clients gain awareness and
consciousness. It’s hard to put into words what exactly makes this
spiritual foundation so wonderful to me. It’s something larger than the
sum of the individuals that make it up. I’ve felt inspired on a daily
basis at CCG to be a more aware and sensitive person and therapist.
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My experience has been
that everyone at the Center is open and welcoming. Room is made for
everyone to flourish and grow in a respectful and healthy way.
About the
Client Hours Available
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When I applied to the Center for Creative Growth for my
external field placement, I was concerned about getting enough face to
face counseling hours to satisfy my graduation requirements. The fact is
that, I’m almost two thirds of the way through my traineeship and I
already have 80 hours in excess of JFK’s requirement.
About the
Training Support Tools
About CCG’s
Location
For a detailed description of our Training Program for
Marriage and
Family Therapist Trainees and Interns,
and for an application form, please
click here
or call us at
510/527-2100. |
