What is the Summer Workshop?     

The annual summer workshop resembles a live virtual conference for the counseling students at ULM. It is designed to facilitate students’ integration of concepts learned in foundational first-year coursework into clinical application. The workshop includes opportunities for students to continue to develop their clinical skills while receiving live supervision and address advanced-level special topics relevant to professional practice. Students will be directed to specialty groups during the workshop that will address School Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and Addiction Counseling topics to support further development in their concentration. Students will learn from practicing counselors and counselor educators in their respective field that will further promote their professional identity. Students complete the summer workshop before entering into Practicum and Internship. 

History of the Workshop

In the past, the Counseling Program used a hybrid format and required students to attend an on-site, week-long residence. Students were required to come to campus for the residence where they would learn and develop their counseling skills. While this experience was important for students' clinical skills development and helped build cohesiveness among the students, the Counseling faculty also recognized this was also difficult for the students logistically. For example, many students had to travel long distances to attend the residence, were required to sleep in the dorms, and many had to take time off of work and be away from their families. The cost of the residence was also high, costing $2,000 for room, board, and the residence (not including travel costs). 

In an attempt to reduce the strain and cost for students, the Counseling faculty changed the format of the residence from an on-site to a virtual format, and changed the name from Summer Residence to Summer Workshop. With the implementation of Zoom, students now meet online and practice their clinical skills in multiple courses throughout the program and no longer receive this training just during the residnece. 

Because the skills training was no longer offered only during the residence, the Counseling faculty were able to add other activities to the summer workshop to make is more relevant and meaningful. Even with the clinical skills training and the addition of new activites, the Counseling faculty were able to reduce the days from five to three, and reduce the cost from $2,000 to $950. Because of these changes, students can now attend the summer workshop online without having to travel to campus. 

Format and Expectations

The summer workshop is held across three days, via Zoom, in a synchronous format. Dates and times will be made available annually through the program website. Students should note that workshop is a live experience. All sessions have interactive components to enhance student learning and increase personal/professional relevance of material.  

Students should be prepared to engage via Zoom throughout the entirety of the workshop as they would in an in-person setting (video on, participating in activities, asking questions, and taking part in skill development). Students will have direct access to Counseling Faculty during the workshop.  

 

The 2024 Summer Workshop will be held May 20 to 23rd.

More to come soon regarding presentation topics, presentors' bios and photos, and CEU opportunities.