Counseling Experiential

The Somatic Counseling Psychology Department requires each student to participate in a counseling experiential, a counseling relationship with a qualified psychotherapist of his or her choice.

This component emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and first-hand experience in individual therapy. Each student is required to complete thirty one-hour sessions with a psychotherapist in individual counseling/therapy.

All sessions must be face-to-face. Fifteen of these sessions must be completed before the start of internship. All thirty sessions should be completed with only one psychotherapist to allow for a greater understanding of continuity and the subtle factors involved in the therapeutic relationship. Each student is advised to choose a therapist carefully.

You may utilize documented and appropriate counseling experiential hours accumulated in the year prior to the date of the beginning of your degree program in the Somatic Counseling Psychology Department. This policy may be reversed at any time by the department, and you may be required to complete all counseling experiential hours during enrollment in the program, contingent upon the following factors: a) that a student who is utilizing counseling experiential hours as described above is determined by the department to be deficient in meeting the criteria for internship and is determined to benefit from meeting the counseling experiential requirement during enrollment as a means of preparation for Internship; or b) that a student is determined by the department to be insufficiently meeting the criteria of internship while in a field placement, and would benefit from meeting the counseling experiential requirement during the internship.

Psychotherapist qualifications

The psychotherapist must have at least a master's degree in psychology, counseling, dance/movement therapy, body psychotherapy, art therapy, music therapy or social work and be licensed or directly supervised by a licensed practitioner in the field.

Degrees recognized for the Counseling Experiential include MD, PhD, PsyD, EdD, MA, MFT and MSW. Licenses recognized for Counseling Experiential include Licensed Psychiatrist (AMA), Licensed Psychologist (APA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Please ask about any degree not referred to herein as there may be an obscure category not yet listed.

The Student Affairs Office has a good list of referral sources for contacting psychotherapists in the area, including professionals and agencies with sliding scale fees. Please also feel free to contact the advisor for Somatic Counseling Psychology, instructors and other students for additional referrals and suggestions.

Please remember that students may not use the subsidized counseling provided by Student Affairs or see a Somatic Counseling Psychology instructor to fulfill the counseling experiential requirement. The latter constitutes a dual relationship which is contrary to Naropa University policy and may be detrimental to both your course work and the therapeutic relationship.

The department requires documentation of the counseling experiential. Before the student begins, the advisor will give each student a counseling experiential form which the student will partially fill out for his or her file.

When the thirty hours of counseling experiential is brought to closure, the student will retrieve the form from the advisor and take the form to the psychotherapist to complete. The form then comes back to the advisor and remains in the student’s file. The Somatic Counseling Psychology Department respects that the counseling experiential is entirely confidential and requires no other documentation other than the student’s and psychotherapist's signature verifying the number of hours completed.

Dance/Movement Therapy students are strongly encouraged to choose a dance/movement therapist. Body Psychotherapy students are also strongly encouraged to work with a body psychotherapist.