Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor Training Program
This training program is sponsored by the OAA and offers master's level counseling students the ability to complete their clinical hours at the VA in our mental health department.
Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor (LPMHC) Training Program
Information
The Atlanta VA Health Care System offers training for individuals currently enrolled in CACREP accredited Master’s degree programs for Clinical Mental Health Counseling to complete their practicum and/or internship training hours within the mental health service line to satisfy CACREP requirements for their degree
The mental health counselor training program allows trainees to work within the mental health programs offered at the Atlanta VA Healthcare System providing direct mental health care to veterans under the supervision of a licensed professional mental health counselor (LPMHC) who is approved as a site supervisor.
Eligibility: Students enrolled in CACREP accredited master’s degree programs in clinical mental health counseling needing to complete the required practicum and/or internship hours who meet that VA’s eligibility requirements (see https://department.va.gov/academic-affiliations/ for more information). At this time, we are only accepting applications from students enrolled in local CACREP accredited programs. Any CACREP accredited university must become an affiliate of the Atlanta VA Healthcare System before their students can complete their practicum/internship hours at the VA.
Location: Trainees may be placed in the Main Atlanta Hospital in Decatur, or any of the 21 Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) where the Atlanta VA Healthcare System provides mental health treatment and has a qualified LPMHC site supervisor onsite. Currently, trainees are being placed in the general mental health, substance use treatment, or primary care mental health integration programs.
Program Benefits
Liability Insurance: Any trainee who completes their practicum/internship hours at the VA does not need to purchase liability insurance, they are covered under the Federal Tort Claims Act at no cost to the trainee.
Evidence Based Training: The VA offers many trainings on evidence based psychotherapy practices and modalities that trainees can take advantage of while completing their hours.
Direct clinical hours: The VA has many mental health treatment programs and trainees are able to provide direct clinical care to veterans using evidence based treatments inside our treatment programs.
Supervision: All trainees are given an assigned site supervisor who is a licensed professional mental health counselor qualified to provide clinical supervision. Site supervisors provide a minimum of 1 hour of supervision per week and work in the same location onsite with the trainee throughout the duration of their rotation.
Alignment with CACREP Standards: The training program was designed to directly align with CACREP standards for students enrolled in Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s degree programs.
Paid Position: Students will not get paid for their practicum semester. The Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) has allotted the training program two paid positions for students completing their internship hours at 15$ per hour for 600 hours. Students may complete their practicum as an unpaid trainee and transition to a paid trainee for their internship hours if awarded a paid position. If the two paid slots are filled, applicants may be offered an unpaid position at the discretion of the training committee.
Employment: VA trainees are a valuable asset to the VA, and are eligible to apply for positions within the VA upon successful completion of their internship and graduation from their program. Many current VA employees started out as trainees.
For more information, please contact:
Amanda Brown, PhD, LPC, LPCS, ACS, NCC, CCMHC, MAC, LAC
LPMHC Training Director