Agency Description

Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) is an affirmative, nonprofit, community-based mental health clinic providing affordable mental health services to the community and offering valuable training for pre-licensed therapists. The clinic opened in 1961 and the founder is still an active member of the board to date. AMCS offers an array of services to meet the needs of people of all ages in the community. We provide counseling for individuals, couples and families, as well as group therapy sessions. AMCS is an affirmative and inclusive clinic, providing services to the LGBTQ+ community by specifically trained therapists. We have interns placed at Westchester Charter High School, Orville Wright Middle School and The Boys and Girls Club of Venice, to provide services for at-risk children and youth. In order to meet the needs of the community, the clinic is open 7 days each week, Mon-Thurs. 9am-9pm and Fri-Sun 9am-3pm for tele-health services and in-person services (not currently available on Fridays).

Agency Mission

The AMCS mission is two-fold: to provide accessible, inclusive mental health services to the community and offer quality training for pre-licensed therapists.

Population

We serve an ethnically diverse population of clientele, most of whom are low-income. Some of the issues our clients face include managing depression, anxiety, bipolar symptoms, symptoms related to a personality disorder and symptoms of schizoaffective disorders. Some of our clients additionally struggle with addiction, though their primary diagnosis is a mental health issue. We provide counseling services to at-risk youths at the Boys and Girls Club of Venice, Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnet High School and Orville Wright Middle School. Given that AMCS is an LGBTQ+ affirmative clinic, we also work with clients on issues that may be specifically related to the LGBTQIA community.

Staff (#, Degree, Prof. Lic.)

# of Psychologists: 4

# of Psychiatrists: 3

# of MFT: 4

# of LCSW: 2

Required days and times

Individual supervisors are available Weds. and Fridays only. Interns should also be available on a Monday (afternoon) or Thursday (evening) for the training seminars. The mandatory 12-week Counseling Skills Course is held on Fridays for the first 12 weeks of the training program. The clinic is open 7 days/week. Interns are scheduled accordingly, and are required to be present one weekend day, and at least one evening which is when the clinic is busiest.

Training and Education Offered

Goals and objectives: To assist interns in developing skills in the following areas: psychotherapy and listening skills, theoretical conceptualization of clients, evaluative and developing a provisional diagnosis. Our goals also include assisting interns in further developing their professional identity, raising their self-awareness and reflectivity, assisting them with understanding the therapeutic significance of transference and countertransference. Psychology interns attend weekly 2-hour group supervision, 1-hour individual supervision, 2-hour mandatory training and may participate in specialty training track: immediate interventions, group therapy, initial consultation, LGBTQI affirmative practices, family therapy, couples therapy, and the school or club tracks to work with adolescents. During the course of supervision, transference and countertransference issues are addressed. Interns use theoretical conceptualization in presenting their work during supervision, to inform their work with clients and when writing summary updates regarding the client's progress. Each service offered to the community is a training opportunity for interns.

X-Cultural Training

Responsibilities

Pre-doctoral interns are responsible for maintaining a 10-12 client case load each week. Participation in the Initial Consultation Track and/or the Immediate Intervention Track is required, each of which offer additional supervision. Interns participate in conducting at a minimum, one Initial Consultation each week, which includes a clinical interview and assigning a provisional diagnosis based on the presenting symptoms of the client. Interns maintain current client files by writing progress notes following each session and providing summary reports on each client after 10 sessions, then 30 sessions and every subsequent 30 sessions. Several predoctoral interns also have the opportunity to present their dissertation topic and research at one of the Training Seminars. Pre-doctoral interns also assist with outreach, program proposals and the clinic's representation on social media.

Prerequisites

Application Procedures