Offering Autonomy, Flexibility, Support and Earning Opportunities for Associates Seeking a Private Practice Model Internship
Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center is a nonprofit organization and offers psychotherapy (currently in the form of teletherapy) to individuals, couples and families throughout the Greater Bay Area and California. We also offer a supportive internship program for pre-licensed clinicians, including Associate Marriage Family Therapists, Associate Social Workers and Associate Professional Clinical Counselors. Unfortunately, we cannot assist individuals seeking practicum placements as trainees.
Want to apply?
Although impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, we currently intend to maintain our current 2020 cohort application cycles, shifting to video-conferencing versus in-person formats for our information meeting, interviews and orientations as long as necessary.
We typically offer flexible start dates for incoming associates, however due to current circumstances we are making some adjustments. While we will continue to host information meetings, accept applications and hold group interviews, we are postponing the onboarding process of new associates until August.
What does this mean for me if I’m applying this April?
Your application will still be accepted and reviewed based on the application deadlines listed below. We will still host group interviews but they will take place over video platform via ZOOM. If you are offered an internship, your start date will be postponed until August at the earliest. The specific date can be set in conversation with the Director of Clinical Services and Programs and Internship and Operations Coordinator once you are accepted.
You can download our application packet below or request an email version at admin@gratefulhearttherapy.org.
2020 APPLICATION PACKET: INFORMATION PACKET 2020
REFERENCE DOCUMENT: APPLICATION REFERENCE ARTICLE
We offer many unique benefits, including opportunities to:
- Develop the clinical and entrepreneurial skills required for success in private practice
- Create an actual practice that is yours once you are licensed
- Enter your post-licensure career with a higher income earning potential than many of your peers
- Retain your client caseload
- Earn an income while accruing hours for licensure
- Earn more as your practice grows
In addition, we will provide:
- Guidance and support to launch your private practice career
- Assistant with business skills development
- Assistance in procuring a professional office in one or multiple locations
- Clinical enrichment and support, including monthly training and other workshops
- An integrative or holistic philosophy
- Six months of no-cost weekly group supervision
- The freedom to choose your own supervisor/s
- Access to 45+ clinicians willing to provide reduced fee supervision
- Access to a network of 60+ fellow interns, including your own cohort
- Potential low-fee referrals
- Marketing support
- Inclusion on Grateful Heart’s website
- Use of SimplePractice
- Opportunities for volunteerism and professional development
- Coordination with other agencies
- Tax-free employee reimbursement for expenses, such as the cost of psychotherapy or training
- The opportunity to continue at Grateful Heart once you become licensed
- Attentive service by a dedicated staff
To help you launch a successful private practice
During your first six months as an associate, you will receive weekly supervision with other associates new to Grateful Heart, as well as the support of our staff to launch a practice that truly reflects your personal aspirations and goals. You can also choose to participate in the workshops, training opportunities and community events, as well as the other professional support and development opportunities we offer. You can choose how much you wish to participate, depending on your interests and needs. Our internship offers flexibility, autonomy and support, custom tailored to your particular situation, interests and needs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I retain my current caseload if I am transferring from an agency or school clinic? Your current clients can join you at Grateful Heart after you leave your current placement site. In addition to providing continuity of care for your clients, this will allow you to begin Grateful Heart with an established caseload. It will also provide you with opportunities for longer term client retention: a benefit for both you and your clients.
How is your internship structured financially? Our internship is structured to provide you with the maximum opportunity for earning. We collect a monthly fee from each associate to cover our costs, but operate on as lean a budget as possible, so as much of what you collect in client fees can be disbursed to you as income once you become an employee.
How much of the client fees I generate will be deducted to offset my internship costs? To subsidize the cost of offering our internship, we will collect a monthly administrative fee from you each month. This fee will be drawn from the fees you collect from your clients or donations from family and friends. In addition to the monthly fee, any pay you receive will be subject to the standard deductions for federal and state withholding. They will also be subject to a 12.5% payroll expense and a $10 payroll processing fee per month. Beginning as of January 2020, our fee is $415/month.
Where is the internship located? We are not a typical brick and mortar agency. Our associates practice throughout the Bay Area in more than 60 private satellite offices, primarily in San Francisco, Marin, the East Bay and Contra Costa County. As an associate, we will lease an office on your behalf. Each new cohort meets for the first six months in Alameda, Berkeley or San Francisco for our introductory group supervision and then one Sunday a month in Berkeley for our monthly clinical workshops and trainings. Most other internship related activities take place in Berkeley.
How long is the internship? The length varies from associate to associate, however most associates stay with us from one to three years. If an associate is at the beginning of their internship process, and can devote 10 – 16 hours per week to their internship, they typically stay with us an average of two years, however we can also accept interns mid-way or nearing the completion of their hours acquisition, as long as they can stay with us a minimum of six months.
Can I earn more as my practice grows? Most internships allow you to accrue hours towards licensure. Some internships also allow you to earn an income during the accrual process. The potential for earning varies widely from internship to internship, ranging from small stipends to hourly wages for interns who are retained as employees. Grateful Heart is designed to offer you much more than the compulsory minimum wage required by law. Once you qualify to become an employee, your income will increase in proportion to your practice. The more you generate in client fees, the more you can earn.
How will your program prepare me for private practice? Many clinicians begin their professional careers without the financial or business skills to begin and sustain a private practice. By participating in our program, you will enter your post-licensure years with the basic financial, operational and marketing skills necessary for success as a private practice clinician. You will acquire these skills experientially as well as by accessing the no or low-cost opportunities for mentoring, training and professional development we offer in our Private Practice Resource Guide.
How flexible is your program? We understand that managing an internship can be stressful, especially when you have other significant commitments. We also realize that after years as a student, many individuals prefer some modicum of autonomy as interns. For this reason, we’ve developed an internship that offers flexibility, autonomy and support. Although some major decisions must be approved by our staff, you choose your office location, schedule, fee scale, supervisor and modality. As long as you meet our standard clinical and administrative requirements, you can also choose how actively you wish to participate in our program. The choice is yours.
What kind of training do you offer? We provide monthly training workshops focusing on contemporary approaches to the therapeutic process, trends in trauma, neurobiology and attachment, psychotherapy with couples and marginalized persons as well as other clinical and practice support topics of interest to our community. An annual workshop on the licensure preparation process will also be offered in 2020. Facilitated by a variety of senior or master clinicians, our trainings are intended both for clinical enrichment and skills development. In addition to training, we offer 1:1 coaching on clinical program development for interns wishing to sponsor groups, workshops or peer trainings. We also offer an extensive library of clinical articles, access to a referral directory, plus a variety of clinical tools, such as assessments and forms, to all our interns. In 2020, our second Sunday training days also include a marketing support group.
How is your internship and agency holistic? As an agency, we are committed to offering programs and services that integrate somatic, transpersonal, humanistic, psychodynamic and contemporary psychoanalytic approaches to the practice of psychotherapy. Many of our supervisors and associates work eclectically, bridging across modalities, some focusing on social justice as a particular interest. Whether informed by these focuses or others, we are joined in an important commitment to providing ethical, respectful care to both our interns and clients.
What kind of community does your program offer? You will begin your orientation and supervision process as an associate with a cohort of up to seven other associates. If you want to become more involved, you can join one of the process or study groups we offer, participate in our monthly clinical training workshops or attend the community events hosted by Grateful Heart and our Associates four times per year. As a member of our network, you can find other clinicians with similar interests, engage in collaborative learning, secure vacation coverage for your practice, exchange information about resources or find an office or suite-mate or study partner. The options are plentiful, depending on your needs. Since the onset of the Coronavirus, we have shifted to online formats for all meetings.
Testimonials
“I think Grateful Heart is unique in that it really supports interns in developing in a way that they choose. There are lots of opportunities for autonomy, growth and support, but minimal blanket requirements.”
“I have felt very grateful to have found a space that is as supportive and available for feedback.”
“The wonderful and dedicated staff went above and beyond at every turn.”
“This agency is truly focused on supporting interns and building a cohesive community.”
“I’m so happy! I love the clinical guidance, the respect for self-as-therapist concerns, and the group feeling.”
“I would recommend this as the best place to develop a private practice because of the great supervision, business support, ongoing training opportunities, and support groups.”
“Sweet freedom! Independence/autonomy. Marketing support. A chance to earn and to expense.”
To Apply
We are now accepting applications. To request an application packet, please download the application packet available above.
Until further notice, all meetings and interviews will take place via ZOOM. To attend an informational meeting, please RSVP by emailing admin@gratefulhearttherapy.org and we will send you a link to join the meeting via ZOOM.
| ACTIVITY | VIA ZOOM UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE | |
| Informational Meetings | March 28, July 11 and November 21, 2020, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM | |
| Application Deadlines | April 6, July 20 and November 30, 2020 | |
| Group Interviews | April 11, July 25 and December 5, 2020, 12:30 – 1:30 of 2:30 depending on number of applicants | |
| Getting Started Meeting | August 1 and December 12, 2020, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | |
| Internship Start | Flexible start dates after August, 2020 | |
| Group Supervision: Alameda | Monday, 10:00 AM – Noon Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 – 11:00 AM |
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| Group Supervision: Berkeley | Tuesday, 9:00 – 11:00 AM and 11:10 AM – 1:10 PM | |
| Group Supervision: San Francisco | Thursday, 8:15 – 10:15 AM and 12:20 – 2:20 PM |
Groups are assigned and scheduled based on availability.
If you have any questions about our unique internship program or cannot download the application package available above on this page, please email admin@gratefulhearttherapy.org.