When you seek therapeutic services for your teen, you may find that the best option for your schedule and your budget is an intern counselor. Therapy sessions can be expensive, and many of the top licensed counselors have waitlists that are months long.
To get the help your teen needs as quickly as possible without breaking the bank, you might consider working with an intern counselor.
If you’re like many other parents, you might feel hesitant to trust an intern with your teen’s treatment. After all, an intern probably doesn’t know much about providing therapy, right? For many jobs, it seems like interns handle tedious paperwork and go on coffee runs. There’s no chance that an intern will be able to help your teen learn to navigate and cope with their big emotions, right?
Not exactly.
While there are some key differences between intern counselors and licensed counselors, both have the training and skills necessary to help your teen.
When you understand what differentiates intern counselors from licensed counselors, you’ll realize that working with a counseling intern can be a great opportunity and experience for your teen.
Here are the distinguishing factors you should consider when you consider having your teen work with an intern counselor:
Confidentiality
While intern counselors are still bound to confidentiality laws, they are able to share information with their supervisors. They may also record sessions to review with their supervisors. Since these supervisors also have to adhere to HIPAA regulations, you don’t have to worry about either the intern counselor or their supervisor sharing private information about your teen.
If anything, this can be beneficial because your teen will have an extra set of “ears” to hear about their experience and to offer guidance and direction for a course of action for their intern counselor to take.
Reduced fees
Intern counselors often make therapy sessions available for a fraction of the cost as sessions held by licensed counselors.
If you are looking for affordable mental health care for your teen, you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars when you choose to have your teen see an intern counselor.
Therapy focus
Licensed therapists typically have the additional schooling and training necessary for them to focus on a specialty. They may specialize in addiction counseling or family therapy or in treating eating disorders or grief, which can be helpful if your teen has a specific issue for which they are seeking treatment.
On the other hand, interns typically focus on talk therapy, which typically includes the following branches: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), psychodynamic therapy, and humanistic therapy.
While intern counselors may not have a specific specialty, their skills with talk therapy will still be beneficial. Talk therapy has been shown to be effective in treating a host of mental health issues, problem behaviors, and disorders including anxiety, depression, bipolar depression, grief, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health concerns.
Education
While licensed psychologists have completed all the necessary schooling they need to be able to practice on their own without supervision, intern counselors are still in school.
Even though these interns are currently taking classes, it does not make them less empathetic, intelligent, or capable of treating your teen.
In fact, your teen might have an easier time relating to an intern counselor because they will know that their counselor is dealing with similar stressors like balancing academics with their jobs and their social lives. Your teen might be more willing to listen to someone they feel they can relate to than someone who has not been a student in years.
While ultimately the decision to have your teen attend therapy sessions with an intern counselor instead of a licensed counselor is a choice you will have to make based on your own comfort level, it is important to know that an intern counselor is not subpar or unqualified just because they are still learning their craft.
From their affordability to their relatability, intern counselors might be a better fit for your family, and allowing an intern counselor to work with your teen is worth consideration.
Whether you choose to have your teen have sessions with a licensed counselor or an intern counselor, you should feel confident that they will be able to receive the support and treatment they need to address the current mental health issues.