MACP Practicum Portal

Pre-Practicum Information

Setting the Stage for your Practicum

Congratulations on reaching this important milestone in your professional development and embarking on the journey to complete the Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (MACP) degree at Yorkville University. To fulfill the requirements for the MACP program, all students must complete an onsite counselling practicum, which will occur at the end of the program after completion of all required coursework.

Although the practicum begins after the completion of coursework, it is very important that students start thinking about their practicum experience early in the academic program. To help with this process, we have developed this Portal which will provide you with the information needed to become familiar with the practicum.

Pre-Practicum Timeline

This timeline will provide you with a step by step explanation for the process you should follow leading up to your actual Practicum. By adhering to these steps you guarantee the best possible outcome for both obtaining your Practicum site and performing well during your Practicum.

Complete these activities at least 12 months prior to practicum:

  1. Review all materials in the portal: Including the FAQ, and Supervisor Information located in the Supervisor Section.
  2. Review the practicum requirements: It is your responsibility to understand the practicum requirements, this includes appropriate sites, types of activities you will need to engage in and the number of hours you will need. You should also be familiar with the qualifications your site supervisor will need to meet. If you have any questions please contact your Practicum Advisor.
  3. Review your provincial regulatory body / professional association: If none exists review the national association website, become familiar with the regulations and requirements related to completing your practicum during your MACP. It might be helpful for you to download the registration application for your provincial / national regulatory body or professional association.
  4. Review the Practicum Guide for Students: The Practicum Guide for Students is available on the MACP practicum portal and contains all relevant and detailed information regarding your practicum.

Resources:

Complete these activities at least 9 months prior to practicum (trimester 4, courses 6273, 6256)

  1. Consider joining your national professional counselling organization as a student member (CCPA). This will provide you with access to conferences, newsletters, committees and other activities that will allow you as a student to interact with other students as well as professionals in the community. This professional network becomes valuable when you are beginning to locate possible practicum sites as well as supports overall career development.
  2. Begin to create a list of sites in your area and begin contact these sites to determine if they provide opportunities for practicum and when the anticipate openings for practicum students in the upcoming year. You can track your progress using My Practicum Search Tracker.docx
  3. Consider which agencies or organizations require YU to apply on the students behalf and what deadlines they have for those applications. Review the provided content on this Portal for specific material you should send to potential practicum sites when you first are reaching out. Remember you should write a cover letter specific to each site. You can also provide them with a link to the Practicum Portal (https://practicum.yorkvilleu.ca).
  4. Begin to think about the time commitment needed to complete your practicum as well as other work and life responsibilities you have. You will need to commit about 2 days a week to your practicum in order to meet all of your required hours. You will also have Practicum Course 7113 & 7203 where you will have a set schedule that includes live seminars and faculty instruction sessions in an online meeting room facilitated by your faculty instructor. Review the following videos: (Refer to Guidelines later on this page)
  5. Reach out to the sites you are interested in, and which you have identified as being appropriate for your practicum experience. Discuss the process each site uses for initiating practicum placements and the steps you will need to complete to apply to the site.
  6. Review these videos: (Refer to Practicum Search Tips on the Practicum Information page)
  7. If you are offered a practicum, determine if there is a site supervisor that meets YU supervisor qualifications. Review this video:
  8. Review the instructions for completing a practicum placement application, become familiar with all of the information you and your proposed site supervisor will be responsible for and the deadline to provide this to the Field Training team.
  9. Schedule a meeting with your potential site supervisor to review all of the requirements to be sure that the site can meet this. It will be helpful for you to bring the application with you as well as the link to the Practicum Portal.

Complete these activities at least 4 months prior to practicum (trimester 5, courses 6223, 6263, E1)

  1. Confirm a start date with your site, remember to review the academic calendar so that you know the first date of the course. 
  2. Review Submitting a Successful Practicum Placement Application.
  3. Inform your site supervisor of their responsibilities related to the application process and the deadline for submitting all of the materials.

Applications submitted past the deadline will not be reviewed. It is very important that you and your supervisor are aware of the application process and deadlines for submitting all documentation.

Living the Practicum Life

Please watch this video prior to attending the “Living the Practicum Life” webinar.

Professionalism and Safe & Effective Use of Self

Accessibility and Academic Accommodations Announcement For Practicum Students

Yorkville University is committed to providing an inclusive learning environment for students facing barriers to participation due to protected human rights grounds. This includes students with permanent, persistent, or prolonged disabilities, such as medical conditions, learning disabilities, ADHD/ADD, and mental health illnesses, amongst others.

The Accessibility and Academic Accommodations Office is pleased to announce that, in collaboration with Field Training, students can now access academic accommodations for their practicum. In addition to existing academic accommodation for coursework, students can access academic accommodations when facing barriers due to protected human rights grounds with pre-practicum requirements and recommendations for on-site accommodations to enable participation.

Like all academic accommodations, pre-practicum procedural and onsite recommendations will be provided when appropriate, based on functional limitations due to the protected grounds and supported by objective documentation.

To register for academic accommodations, follow the following steps:

1) If not already registered with Accessibility and Academic Accommodations, obtain objective documentation, complete an intake form and book an appointment.

2) Students already registered with the Accessibility office can contact their Accessibility Specialist directly or send a general email to [email protected]
(Practicum Application and Portal Support Accommodation)

For more information, Refer to the Guidelines for Placement Accommodation Recommendations.

Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities

Yorkville University (the “school”) is committed to creating and encouraging a learning community that is a safe and equitable environment for everyone to pursue their educational goals regardless of their personal circumstances, beliefs, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or expression. We strive to foster a community that is based on trust, mutual understanding, respectful communication & behaviour where everyone has a voice and is treated respectfully.

We encourage you to visit the website and familiarize yourself with its contents. Here you can access immediate assistance and find information regarding rights and responsibilities, student conduct, complaints procedures, and the scope of OSRR.
Visit: https://myyu.ca/osrr/

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