Application Process
Applicants for the 2024-2025 externship program should submit the following materials to the Director of Externship Training:
- Cover letter explaining interest in this training setting and goals for externship
- Curriculum Vitae covering relevant clinical work, outreach, training, and research experience
- Official or unofficial transcript
- Three (3) letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a current supervisor
Applications should be submitted as a single PDF file labeled with the applicant's name. Please email your application to the Director of Externship Training with the subject line, "Externship Application."
If transcripts or letters of recommendation are unable to be sent directly by the applicant via e-mail, it is acceptable to have those materials e-mailed to the Director of Externship Training or mailed to:
Allyson Shaffer, MSW, LICSW, LCSW - C
Director of Externship Training
The Catholic University of America Counseling Center
620 Michigan Avenue NE
O'Boyle Hall, Room 127
Washington, DC 20064
The application deadline for the 2024-2025 Social Work externship is February 2, 2024.
The application deadline for the 2024-2025 Psychology externship is February 16, 2024.
Eligibility and Selection Process
Social work applicants must be entering their second year of their MSW program. Psychology externs are selected from APA-accredited Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology doctoral programs, as well as CACREP-accredited Counseling doctoral programs. Psychology applicants must be advanced students who are at least entering their third year of course work and clinical training.
In reviewing applicants, the training staff considers previous therapy experience, unique clinical skills, and the professional needs of both the applicant and the Center. In addition, the staff considers academic achievement, consulting/outreach experience, and nonclassroom learning experience. The most qualified candidates will be invited to an in-person/Zoom interview. Final selection will be made on the basis of both the application and the interview.
Social work applicants will be notified of their acceptance shortly after the conclusion of in-person social work interviews, typically the third week of February.
For psychology applicants, please note that the Catholic University Counseling Center honors the regulations of the Universal Student Acceptance Date. The Center may extend offers following the conclusion of interviews, but students from consortium programs* may not accept an offer until the Universal Student Acceptance Date (March 10, 2024). The Counseling Center asks applicants who do not plan to accept an offer on the Acceptance Date to kindly notify the Center of their rejection or withdrawal as soon as possible so that the Center may extend an offer to another applicant.
*As of January 1, 2019: American University, Catholic University, Gallaudet University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Howard University, Institute for Psychological Science, and USUHS.