How the MA in Counseling at Regis Prepares You for Practicum, Licensure, and Career Readiness

What Is a Counseling Practicum?

A counseling practicum is a supervised clinical field experience completed before graduation. It is often one of the first opportunities counseling students have to apply what they have learned with actual clients in a clinical setting.

Because students are still developing their skills, a practicum is not meant to thrust them into independent clinical work. Supervision and feedback are central to the experience.

At Regis College, Counseling Practicum is a required three-credit course—at least 100 hours of supervised field experience, including 40 hours of direct service. It is completed alongside academic studies, role-play activities, and under the supervision of experienced graduate program faculty. Students can also take the Counseling Practicum II course, if they choose to gain additional experience, want to work with another population or setting, or need to meet additional requirements in the state where they plan to seek licensure.

Because licensure rules differ by state, students should always check the requirements where they intend to practice. 

How Does Regis Prepare Students Before Counseling Practicum?

Students in Regis’ Master of Arts in Counseling program start stepping into the counselor role long before beginning a clinical placement.

The curriculum covers everything from counseling theory and ethics to psychopathology and group dynamics. In Principles and Techniques of Counseling, for instance, students practice core skills such as active listening, asking open-ended questions, summarizing, and reflecting feelings. They also engage in role-playing, case assessments, simulations, and supervised exercises.

Brandon Jones, PhD, interim director of Graduate Counseling Programs at Regis, emphasizes the value of hands-on practice, noting that it gives students room “to learn through doing and to get feedback” before working directly with clients.

Students also learn the art of asking open-ended questions, reflecting what a client might say during a session, and then how to take those new skills and make them personal. Jones describes that next step as learning “how to make them your own, how to do them as you.”    

This preparation gives students space to experiment, make mistakes, adjust, and grow before entering high-stakes clinical environments.

How Does Regis Match Students With Practicum and Internship Placements?

A practicum or internship site isn’t just somewhere to log required hours. It can help shape a whole host of things, from where a student feels most comfortable to what they pursue after graduation.

Jones describes Regis’ placement process as “developmental and collaborative,” ensuring that faculty and staff look at more than just a student’s preferred clinical setting. Considerations include where the student is in their development, what they already do well, where they still need experience, and which populations or areas of practice interest them.

Real-life circumstances matter, too.

“Are they a parent or do they have to work still in some other capacity?” Jones says of the questions the program considers during placement planning.  

Students meet individually with the clinical placement team, where faculty who have worked with them may also share feedback about strengths or areas where more experience could help.

The team then looks at existing clinical partners that may be a good match. In some cases, students receive a short list of options and talk through why those placements could make sense. Regis also helps students prepare for placement interviews and make initial connections.

If existing site partnerships are not a fit, faculty help students identify and evaluate alternative sites.

“We really want to make sure that folks are getting a good fit,” Jones says.

Counseling Practicum vs. Internship: What Is the Difference?

While practicums and internships are both supervised clinical field experiences, they serve distinct purposes in a counselor’s training.

Practicum comes first, offering a structured environment to integrate coursework with initial field experience. At Regis, practicum includes observational learning, mentored participation, and client interaction at a pace suited to the student’s development.

Internship occurs later in the program. Having completed more advanced coursework and foundational clinical hours, students are prepared to take on greater independence and clinical responsibility.

At Regis, MA in Counseling students are required to take Clinical Internship I and II, where they continue working under supervision while building greater clinical competence, independence, ethical judgment, and professional self-awareness.

So the difference between the two isn’t simply the hours involved. Practicum is an introduction to supervised clinical work while an internship is where students have the chance to deepen that work and spend more sustained time functioning in a professional counseling environment. Internships can also provide an invaluable opportunity to explore possible future employment. 

How Do Practicum and Internship Fit Into Counseling Licensure?

Practicum and internship are core components of licensure preparation, though completing them is one step in a multi-stage path toward independent licensure.

The broad path to licensure can look something like this:

• Complete a qualifying graduate degree and required coursework.
• Complete required pre-master’s practicum and internship experience.
• Graduate
• Complete any required national examination and post-master’s supervised experience.
• Apply for independent licensure.

Regis’s MA in Counseling 60-credit program—which reports a 100% pass rate on the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination—is designed to prepare students for LMHC or LPC licensure pathways, meeting the educational eligibility requirements in Massachusetts and most states, although some jurisdictions require more electives be taken or field experience acquired. 

In Massachusetts, for example, graduates must complete additional supervised post-master’s clinical experience before they can become independently licensed as an LMHC.

Requirements can change and vary considerably from one state to another, so you should verify current rules with the licensing board wherever you decide to practice.

How Clinical Training Builds Career Readiness

Practicum and internship experiences introduce students to the daily realities of clinical practice, starting with direct client care.

But they also introduce prospective students to things they may think less about at first, such as documentation, case conceptualization, treatment planning, talking through cases with supervisors, and understanding administrative or insurance-related expectations.

Jones notes that students begin encountering some of those practical issues during fieldwork—from questions about medical necessity and documentation to situations where an insurance decision or risk concern becomes part of the clinical work. Clinical placements also give students a chance to learn what kind of environment suits them.

Students may better understand which particular client population interests them the most and some may even find that a particular setting they imagined would be their preference is in fact not a good fit at all.

Others leave their internship with a better sense of the supervision and workplace culture they need in an entry-level position. That is why Dr. Jones notes that field placement can have an “outsized impact” on a counselor’s career trajectory.

What Should You Look for in a Counseling Program’s Clinical Training?

When evaluating graduate counseling programs, look beyond whether “practicum” and “internship” are listed in the course catalog.

Ask how the program gets students ready for those experiences.

Useful questions include:

• What opportunities will I have to practice counseling skills before seeing clients?
• How does the program choose and evaluate placement sites?
• Who supervises practicum and internship?
• Will faculty consider my interests, strengths, and areas where I need more experience?
• Does the program help students prepare for placement interviews?
• Will the curriculum meet educational and pre-master’s requirements where I plan to pursue licensure?
• How does the program help students think about post-graduate supervision and career planning?

The answers to these questions offer insight into the level of support provided during clinical training.

From Counselor-in-Training to Career-Ready Professional

Most students don’t begin a counseling master’s program feeling ready to sit across from a client and handle every situation confidently. They aren’t supposed to. The process is gradual: learn the theory, practice the skills, get feedback, begin supervised clinical work, take on more responsibility, and keep developing after graduation.

Regis’ MA in Counseling program is structured around that progression, combining coursework, experiential learning, supervised fieldwork, and individualized placement support.

If you’re considering the next step, explore the MA in Counseling program to learn more about the curriculum, clinical training, and licensure preparation, or request more information to get answers to your questions.