Counseling Interns: Improving access
Connections Family Counseling, LLC believes that counseling has the power to transform individual lives, families, our community, and the world. This belief drives a passion to increase access to high quality counseling services. The best way to increase access is to increase the number of counselors working in our community. Therefore, Connections Family Counseling, LLC has partnered with Online and Local Universities to provide Internships for Counselors-in-Training.
Counseling Interns: Required Training
A counseling internship requires a minimum of 600 hours of experience working directly and indirectly with clients. Most internships must be completed over a minimum of 10 months and often take up to 1.5 years. During an internship a counselor-in-Training is required to meet with their supervisor every week. They also meet weekly with a faculty member from their university. All of this supervision is designed to help the student learn and to ensure the highest quality of care for clients. After completing their internship the student will graduate with their Master’s degree in counseling.
Counseling Interns: The road to Licensure
After graduating with their Master’s Degree the road to clinical licensure has just begun. All Counselors must continue to receive weekly supervision for an additional 3,360 hours of experience. In addition to hours of experience counselors must also pass two national examinations before licensure. The counselor must pass the National Counselor Examination (NCE) and the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Examination (NCMHCE). Counselors are regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and are required to obtain continuing education through out their career.
Counseling Interns: Connections Family Counseling, LLC
All counseling interns and pre-licensed counselors at Connections Family Counseling, LLC are supervised by practice owner Mark Vander Ley, Ph.D., LCPC. Mark obtained his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2018. He has been providing supervision and training to counselors since 2014. In addition to owning Connections Family Counseling, LLC, Mark is a full-time faculty member at Colorado Christian University.
The internship program at Connections Family Counseling, LLC includes individual and group supervision. Interns are challenged to develop their own style of counseling while gaining exposure to several evidence based counseling approaches. Interns learn about Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) and Play Therapy. Beyond the weekly supervision all counseling interns are able to collaborate and learn from the fully licensed therapists/counselors working in the practice. These highly trained and experienced counselors have between 10 and 35 years of experience in the counseling profession.
Alyssa Huston, Intern
Hello, my name is Alyssa Huston and I am thrilled to be doing my practicum and internship at Connections Family Counseling, LLC. My primary focus will be working with children and adolescents; however, I am excited and motivated to work with all people, adults included. I have worked with kids in some capacity my entire life. I started out young, by being my daycare provider’s “second hand man” at 6 years old. I served as a nanny for several families over the years and I worked as a lifeguard and later a swim instructor. I volunteered at a daycare in college and have worked on a children’s psychiatric unit for the last 3.5 years.
I believe these experiences and my present education will help me grow as a counselor-in-training. In addition, my life experience and personal interests have given me a love for working with adults. I am a 2024 graduate of Truman State University where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Child Studies. Soon after graduation I was accepted into my current master’s program at The Chicago School, formerly or otherwise known as The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. In this program I have been able to learn and explore the theories, approaches, and clinical skills needed to become a licensed mental health therapist.
I describe my current style of counseling as person centered. I am honest, caring, supportive, and I am not afraid to meet you where you are, even if that means playing on the floor. I am beyond grateful to continue my journey as an intern through Connections Family Counseling, LLC and I am excited to meet and work with everyone along the way.
Victorya Knoverek, Intern
Hello! My name is Victorya Knoverek, and I am a graduate counseling intern at Connections Family Counseling. I work with clients of all ages, but I especially enjoy working with children, teens, and young adults, particularly those who have experienced trauma. I also enjoy helping clients navigate anxiety, depression, ADHD, relationship concerns, and challenges with self-esteem.
I believe counseling works best when clients feel comfortable being themselves and know they have someone genuinely in their corner. My approach is client-centered, trauma-informed, and incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). I tend to be calm, curious, creative, and direct. Whether we are talking, creating, problem-solving, or occasionally sitting on the floor, I want therapy to feel like a place where clients can be themselves while working toward meaningful change.
I earned both a B.S. in Psychology and a B.F.A. in Graphic Design, with minors in Child Advocacy and Digital Media Arts. I am currently completing my M.A. in Counseling at Culver-Stockton College. My background in psychology, child advocacy, and the creative arts influences how I think about people and the many different ways we communicate, process experiences, and make sense of our stories.
Outside of counseling, I enjoy creating digital and social media content and serve as the producer, editor, and co-host of the Doctor Therapy Mom podcast. I’m excited to continue growing as a counselor at Connections Family Counseling, LLC and grateful for the opportunity to walk alongside clients as they learn more about themselves, navigate difficult experiences, and build lives that feel more like their own.