Digital Journals
Track your moods, thoughts, and feelings. Reflecting regularly can provide clarity and facilitate discussions with
Resources for graduate students in psychology, counseling, and related mental health programs who are deciding what comes after internship.
Most students make the post-internship decision under time pressure, with application deadlines, licensure timelines, and financial realities all arriving at once. Under those conditions, it is easy to start with whatever job postings are open that month and work backward. That approach tends to produce a first job that fits the calendar and leaves the long-term plan unexamined.
A more reliable sequence starts with the work you want to do, then confirms the rules that govern that work, and only then weighs the practical demands of your life. The order matters because each step narrows the next one. The services you want to provide determine which credential or license you need, and the credential determines which supervision, exams, and hours remain. Your life priorities then help you choose among the options that are actually open to you.
Step 1: Know Your Work
Start by identifying the work that gives you energy. Ask whether you want to spend your time with individual clients, with systems such as schools and agencies, with trainees, or with programs. Decide how central therapy and assessment should be. This step comes first because every later decision depends on it. A plan built around consultation leads to different requirements than a plan built around therapy.
Step 2: Know the Rules
A credential qualifies you for a role in a particular setting, such as a school district. A license gives you legal permission to provide specific services, and each state defines those services in its own way. Confirm the requirements with the board in the state where you plan to work before you accept a position. Supervised hours count toward licensure only when the supervisor and the arrangement meet that board’s standards, and finding out later costs months.
Step 3: Know Your Life
Income, benefits, schedule flexibility, a school-year calendar, remote options, and burnout risk all shape whether a path is sustainable. This step comes last on purpose. Your priorities are easier to weigh once you know which options your training and credentials actually support, and that keeps the decision grounded in real choices.
Try the Career Journey Map
Ten questions walk you through all three steps. At the end, you will see the career directions your answers connect to, a list of requirements to verify, and space to name one concrete step for the next 30 days. The tool does not rank careers or save your answers, and you can print your results to bring to a meeting with your advisor, DCT, or supervisor.
Layne Center Blog
The Rising Cases of Anxiety and ADHD in School-aged Children
By Dr. Corey Milsap, PsyD, LPC, CSP, LSP, LMHC The mental well-being of children is receiving increasing attention, with anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) emerging as dominant concerns.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Schools: A Vital Tool for Supporting Students’ Mental Health
By Dr. Corey Milsap, PsyD, LPC, CSP, LSP, LMHC Children naturally experience moments of worry or sadness. However, when these emotions become prolonged or intense due to conditions like anxiety
Navigating Compassion Fatigue: Recognizing and Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress
By Dr. Corey Milsap, PsyD, LPC, CSP, LSP, LMHC Secondary traumatic stress, sometimes termed “compassion fatigue,” is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when individuals are indirectly exposed to traumatic experiences
