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Compass Behavioral Health Service Internship

Compass Family Services supports homeless families and families at risk for homelessness to achieve housing stability, family well-being and self-sufficiency. We are one of three access points for San Francisco families facing a housing crisis. Our services include emergency shelter, transitional housing, rental assistance, early childhood education and a broad spectrum of counseling, parenting education and other support services. 

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Compass Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) provides graduate students (Trainees) and Registered Associates with opportunities to provide crisis intervention and trauma-informed, strength-based therapy to families experiencing homelessness or residing in shelters and permanent supportive housing. Our services reflect our understanding of the complexities of trauma and the range of traumatic experiences. Therapeutic services are currently offered via telehealth and on-site at the Compass Family Services main office located in San Francisco’s Civic Center. Trainees and Associates will experience all aspects of work at a vibrant social service agency as part of the Compass Behavioral Health Services team, working collaboratively with staff at Compass Family Services and local housing and shelter sites.

 

The clinical training program includes training and education, supervision and support, attention to self-care for both the individual and the organization and attention to creating a welcoming and safe environment with a deep respect for how trauma has impacted our client families. The majority of the training takes place in individual and group supervisions.

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Opportunities 

  • Providing trauma-informed, strength-based psychotherapeutic services to individual adults, children, families and couples at our main office at 37 Grove Street to stabilize families living in local shelters and supportive housing programs.

  • One shift per week as Counselor of the Day (COD) in the Compass Family Resource Center (CFRC) Drop-In Center at 37 Grove Street that includes providing one-time crisis counseling and supporting CFRC staff with, for example, client intakes and providing SF City resources to clients.

  • Collaborating with case managers and other staff members in order to provide comprehensive services to our client families including participating in case reviews and other collateral meetings.

  • Providing therapeutic shadowing at Compass Children’s Center (CCC) with pre-school age children (3-5 y/o) presenting behavioral challenges.

  • Co-facilitating groups and classes.

  • Training may include and is not limited to: Charting, Suicidality, Domestic Violence, SalesForce, Mandated Reporting, Cultural Competency and Cultural Humility, Therapeutic Shadowing (for preschoolers aged 3-5 y/o), Crisis Intervention and World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL). 

  • Interns will also have the opportunity to attend agency-wide training and activities.

 

Our approach to therapy is eclectic, strength-based and trauma-informed. Our modalities include psychodynamic and humanistic/existential with an openness to explore and utilize other modalities and techniques that may be helpful to our clients. Although we are committed to depth psychology, we also recognize the need for brief therapy, especially in crisis situations. By the end of the training program, Trainees and Associates will have gained clinical experiences in both long-term and brief psychotherapy. 


Training Program Details

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Length of Program:  Approximately one year in length beginning after Labor Day 2025 and ending no later than August 30, 2026. 

Internship Orientation:  Tuesday, September 2, 2024 from 9am to 4:30pm. In-person at 37 Grove Street.
Participation is required. 

Group Supervision: Every Tuesday from 1pm to 3pm. In-person at 37 Grove Street.
Participation is required. 

Individual Supervision: One hour of individual or triadic clinical supervision will be scheduled each week based on Supervisor and Trainee/Associate scheduling. In-person at 37 Grove Street.
Participation is required. 

Stipend: Trainees receive $500 per month and Registered Associates receive $1,000 per month.


Expectations for Trainees     

  • 16+ hours per week (total time commitment)

  • 5+ hours per week face-to-face individual therapy and/or therapeutic shadowing (milieu therapy)

  • One 3-hour shift per week as Counselor of the Day (COD) at the Compass Family Resource Center (CFRC) Drop-In Center at 37 Grove Street

  • 1 hour per week of individual or triadic supervision

  • 2 hours per week of group supervision 

  • Co-facilitate parenting skills or support group (optional)

  • Required charting in SalesForce
     

Expectations for Associates:  

  • 16+ hours per week (total time commitment) 

  • 10 hours per week face-to-face individual therapy and/or therapeutic shadowing (milieu therapy) 

  • 1 hour per week of individual or triadic supervision

  • 2 hours per week of group supervision 

  • Co-facilitate parenting skills or support group

  • Required charting in SalesForce 


Applications for Trainee and Associate positions will be accepted until all positions are filled.

We encourage you to apply before March 15, 2025 if possible.

We will accept and review resumes from well-qualified applicants at any time; however, for the best opportunity, please try to apply by March 15.

 

To apply for a Trainee or Associate position, please send your resume and cover letter to the below contact with the subject ”CBHS Internship: Your Full Name and Trainee or Associate”. No phone calls please. No applications will be reviewed without a formal cover letter. We are not asking for letters of recommendation as part of the application process so please do not include them or have them sent from a referrer to us.

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Bolor Purvee

Assistant Program Director 

bpurvee@compass-sf.org

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