PROGRAMS
Clinical Intern Program
Now accepting resumes and letters of interest for the Fall/Spring 2024-2025 term. No current summer positions are available.
One of the founding missions of Small Steps Child Counseling is to provide a robust learning environment that fosters interns in growing their clinical skills and reflective practice in working with young children and their families. Interns at Small Steps receive weekly individual and group supervision, regular training, and ongoing opportunities to consult and collaborate with peers and other clinicians.
Small Steps has partnered with multiple graduate schools to offer comprehensive clinical internship experiences in supporting children of all ages and their family members. We value the diverse set of skills that interns bring from their Art Therapy, Counseling, and Social Work programs. Based on those diverse skills, the Clinical Director and Intake Coordinator thoughtfully and considerately pair our intern clinicians with clients that would be a good fit for working with closely supervised graduate students in training to become licensed therapists.
Stepping Out Program
THE PURPOSE: The Stepping Out Program was developed to help mental health therapists strengthen their skills in working with children from birth to 18 years old and their families. This specialized work requires years of postgraduate training to address this population’s specific needs and fulfill certification requirements indicating competency in the field. Small Steps is committed to supporting the development and training of as many child mental health clinicians as possible. New Mexico desperately needs more well-trained clinicians to meet the mental health needs of children and their families.
THE DETAILS: Small Steps provides supervision, training, and support in becoming a child therapist. For the duration that the therapist remains at Small Steps, the therapist is required to be involved in consistent one-on-one supervision, group supervision/consultation, and staffing meetings, and is required to develop a specialty skill set for working with children. Once a therapist feels ready to move forward with their professional goals—whether that be a private practice, a specialty practice, or the development of their own agency—Small Steps will provide administrative and billing support to help the therapist launch out on their own.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
1) The therapist must first become an employee of Small Steps Child Counseling.
2) The therapist must treat Small Steps clients for a minimum of two years at three-quarters time or full time with Small Steps Child Counseling.
3) The therapist must be an active participant in individual supervision and group supervision for two years.
4) The therapist must demonstrate regular attendance to all Small Steps staffings and trainings for two years.
5) The therapist must actively pursue continuing education in a child specialty field, for example: Infant Mental Health, Play Therapy, Art Therapy, Sand Tray Therapy, etc., for two years.