MST Internship track

Pennsylvania Counseling Services is happy to announce opening a new internship position for one intern to work in its Multisystemic Therapy program in Lancaster County.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) uses an intensive systems approach for intervention with adjudicated youth (ages 12-17) with serious criminal or behavioral problems. The focus of treatment is to improve family relationships, parenting practices and ultimately to reduce anti-social behavior in youth who are likely to be incarcerated or otherwise removed from their home. The MST treatment model draws from theories of systemic and structural family therapy and emphasizes the use of researched and evidenced based treatment approaches to empower parents, by improve their skills set and effectiveness, identify family and system strengths, develop natural supports, and remove barriers to successful change (e.g. high stress, poor family relationships, etc.).

To promote more intensive work with the families and the surrounding systems, the MST intern has a small caseload of four to five families at any given time. The MST therapist can expect to work with their families for approximately 3 to 5 months and to see observable changes within the family structure and functioning within weeks of beginning their family work. The intern will meet with the families on average of two to three therapy sessions a week (or more if clinically appropriate). Additionally, to gain multiple perspectives and a better understanding of the factors contributing to the struggles within the family the intern will have regular contact with the child’s juvenile probation officer, school, and other collateral agencies involved with the families. The desired result is to make positive and lasting changes within the family structure which would be supported by the surrounding system.

The MST intern will become skilled in the MST model and receive a great deal of support in working with their families. A five day orientation to the model is provided as well as quarterly booster trainings to encourage the therapist’s understanding, effective use of and fidelity to the MST model. The intern will also be part of a four person team of MST therapists that participate in weekly group supervisions and consultations and provide on-call coverage for each other’s cases approximately once every five weekends. To read more about the MST model, please visit the website www.mstservices.com.

The pre-doctoral intern in this track will gain exposure and experience with various programs and organizations affecting the client, and will have the opportunity to develop their skills and ability in interagency collaboration. The ideal intern for this track will be able to well tolerate heightened focus on ongoing objective outcome measurements (which indicates whether desired clinical effects are being realized) and many hours of supervision. At least four hours of weekly supervision will focus exclusively on the MST cases and adherence to the MST model. Approximately three additional hours per week of supervision will focus not only on psychological services delivered but also on the intern’s overall growth and development as a psychologist. The internship track will also include a few hours a week of regular outpatient therapy (any population or modality), an occasional psychological assessment battery (minimum of 3 for the year), and some required readings.

Pennsylvania Counseling Services is an equal opportunity employer