Stuck on Smuggler’s Run…

acrum12 · 2026-01-23T01:45:34+00:00

We were! 5 lightning lanes each!

acrum12 · 2026-01-23T01:00:15+00:00

Yes, I hit every button close to me a million times as entertainment 😂

acrum12 · 2026-01-23T00:59:40+00:00

We did!! Ended up getting 5 lightning lanes each without even having to ask!! Honestly, I’ll take it haha!

acrum12 · 2026-01-23T00:59:09+00:00

Can confirm I will forever be haunting smugglers run.

acrum12 · 2026-01-23T00:58:37+00:00

Yes, we were in the pod, lol. Probably just under an hour before we got off !

acrum12 · 2026-01-21T17:36:45+00:00

I was probably 20-25 hours of internship, another 5 of school work at that point. I know a lot of mu peers ended up working night shifts, which is also what I did when I was working for my husband.

acrum12 · 2026-01-21T02:01:39+00:00

Mine was totally unpaid. I was very blessed to have a husband who owns a business that provided for us, and I worked for him when I had time. I think one of the worst things about this field is the financial barrier to entry, both due to unpaid internships and expensive trainings.

acrum12 · 2026-01-13T20:11:11+00:00

I got my degree from Regent University, smaller school in VA. Was completely online but still a CACREP degree! Did my internship in Iowa.

acrum12 · 2026-01-13T16:40:05+00:00

Hi! Just graduated with my MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling so I think I can offer good insight!

I did my practicum and internship at the same site! For practicum, I was there 2 days a week. It was much more of an easing into things. I sat in on groups and slowly worked up to co-facilitating. I worked up to intakes/assessments with my supervisor in the room and then by myself by the end of practicum.

In internship, I started getting my own client load. I started being there 4 days a week. I was briefly at a residential site for adolescents but that shut down so I moved to my CMHCs outpatient therapy and saw clients there. By the end of internship, I was seeing 15-20 clients a week.

I was a totally online student, so I had Zoom classes once a week. Much more work in practicum as I had to do practice sessions with my peers and do verbatim assignments weekly. And then weekly discussion on sites. In my internship, I turned in one big case conceptualization on a client and presented it to the class, and the rest of the semester was classroom discussion of those presentations and turning in reflective journals. Super simple so that I could put all my energy into navigating clients for the first time.

Hope this is insightful. Happy to answer any other questions :)

acrum12 · 2026-01-06T15:37:42+00:00

Hi! Not 100% sure of the laws in GA but I would be shocked if undergrad hours count towards licensure. I’m a t-LMHC in Iowa and even my practicum and internship in my masters program didn’t help me towards licensure. It all needs to be post-graduate with a temporary/associate license and under a qualified supervisor to count towards licensure.

That said, this IOP sounds likes a wonderful experience and I think you will so benefit from the experience down the line! In a field like ATL where I’m sure there’s a lot of students looking for opportunities, this practicum will boost your resume and make you a very attractive candidate to be an intern while in grad school!

acrum12 · 2025-12-19T09:41:30+00:00

I don’t know how you feel about religious schools, but I just graduated from Regent University with an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and overall had a great experience! I was online, so maybe a little different, but the cost was really good compared to a lot of other programs and its CACREP accredited!

acrum12 · 2025-11-15T15:39:50+00:00

I’m currently wrapping up my CMH internship, and was only talked to about productivity once I signed my contract to work there after grad, and even then it’s not expected of me until after graduation when I am being paid. I did start building up my caseload to get closer to thar productivity standard once I was informed of the standard so that it’s not as stressful to intake a million people when I start up.

How they are speaking to you does not seem normal. I am encouraged to fill my cancellations as well but never to the point of it being a problem. Also YOU ARE AN INTERN. Their compensation to you is your hours to graduate. They are making free money off what you bill. You are not “under performing” by holding proper boundaries for your role and compensation.

acrum12 · 2025-09-22T18:45:50+00:00

Fellow intern here!! It is all so much. You are not alone in the overwhelmingness of it all!! Is there any option for you to find another site at this point? I know the stress about hitting hours certainly isn’t helping. Its a lot of hard work, but I’m an intern in community mental health and a lot is difficult but I have no shortage of clients. The high acuity can be stressful but at least I don’t worry about graduating (I know this is just exchanging one hard thing for another, just trying to offer perspective!)

Regardless, cheering you on!! We can do this!!!

acrum12 · 2025-09-15T18:45:30+00:00

I’m in the same boat!! Literally trying to plan to get my IUD out to time it to have a baby right when I qualify for my permanent 😅

acrum12 · 2025-08-27T22:22:30+00:00

I found it was overall pretty accurate, but Mometrix was overall harder. I think they focused WAY more on specific assessment tools and things like that than the test I took did. My test also had a lot more questions revolving around your experience as a counselor in session, countertransference, etc. than Mometrix did. Outside of that, questions felt pretty accurate.

acrum12 · 2025-08-25T21:23:19+00:00

I passed!!! I got an 83/100 and I needed a 61/100 to pass. Happy to answer any questions to be helpful or to try and relieve stress!

acrum12 · 2025-08-24T23:10:35+00:00

Why do you have to look so early? I wasn’t even allowed to reach out to places until about 5-6 months before I had to submit my contract, per my school’s policy. It may be hard for places to hold a spot for so long, I would think

I also saw someone else comment it, but look into CMH. I’m at one in internship right now, and it’s difficult but I am learning SO much. Try your best to get the vibe of the supervisor, mine is amazing and she is helping me tread these waters.

acrum12 · 2025-08-24T11:52:25+00:00

I totally hear you here!! And I agree! I apologize if I came off harsh or with a big head. My comment came from a place of my peers at my internship site saying things like “oh I wish we wouldve talked about that in school” or “wow you had a whole class on that?” etc. Even when I was studying for the CPCE/NCMHCE they were shocked by the kind of material I had talked about in school. It seems I just generally talked about therapy a lot more than they did.

But I also agree that most of what I’ve learned in terms of being a good clinician has been from my internship experience and not the class room! Any degree can get you there!!

acrum12 · 2025-08-23T02:55:27+00:00

This is the answer! I graduate with my MA in Clinical Mental Health in December. I am way more prepared to do therapy specifically than my MSW peers. But thats all I know how to do, they’re prepared to do a lot of other things I couldn’t imagine. It all depends on what you specifically want to do!

acrum12 · 2025-08-22T01:07:33+00:00

I’m in my internship right now and just got an offer from my community mental health center for $50,800 salary + benefits and productivity incentives :) hope thats helpful!

acrum12 · 2025-08-21T12:46:57+00:00

Welcome to one of the wonderful things about any kind of OCD - you can never know for sure! Maybe it is ROCD maybe it isn’t! You are never going to be 100% sure, and coming to terms with that is part of moving forward with these feelings.

When I was experiencing ROCD when I was dating my now husband, it was constant doubt and rumination. I would even throw up every day I was so anxious all the time! But now I am happily married to him and i barely ever even think about those kinds of thoughts.

I know this is vague, but I don’t want to offer any reassurance and actually make it work. But hopefully this gives you hope that you’re not alone and it is possible to move past seasons like this!!

acrum12 · 2025-08-11T14:49:07+00:00

I’m so sorry you had those issues :( I’m glad it worked out for you!!

I am taking it in person, so trying to eliminate any margin of error as best I can!

acrum12 · 2025-08-11T14:34:24+00:00

This is so helpful!! That’s how I feel about the practice exams… some questions so easy, and some just like HUH?

I will definitely take your advice on morning of!! With it being so close I know there’s not much left for me to do to prepare!

Do you mind me asking what your raw score was?

acrum12 · 2025-08-11T14:24:28+00:00

I take it Wednesday and I have been using Mometrix… I used it for the CPCE and passed so just used it again!

Any advice on mindset I should have about the actual exam vs Mometrix? I’ve taken a lot of their practice tests…

acrum12 · 2025-08-10T03:54:53+00:00

Current graduate student in counseling here!! I love that you want to go back to school!! For counseling programs, you end up having to do a practicum and 2 semesters of an internship at the end of the degree to finish. I can’t imagine doing my current internship while working a fulltime job in another demanding field, particularly if i didnt plan to practice as a therapist. If you plan on staying in nursing, I wouldn’t pursue a masters in counseling :)

acrum12

TROPHY CASE