Employment with Protea Wellness

Interns at Protea Wellness see 10-12 client hours a week and get paid a stipend of $200 their first

2 months, and $500/month thereafter.

 

Protea Wellness prioritizes providing a safe internship site to BIPOC and queer/trans interns.

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Our ideal candidates have knowledge of and commitment to social justice values, have done work

to understand and dismantle systemic oppression, and have clinical knowledge about working with LGBTQIA+

communities. We also value collaboration and a commitment to continued growth.

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Protea Wellness is a group therapy practice started with the intention to provide clients with skillful and compassionate care and provide therapists with a supportive and empowering workplace.

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Protea Wellness' goal for our interns is to produce well-rounded, highly competent, systemically focused clinicians with strong clinical skills. We prioritize working with LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse clients and require that every intern and associate learn to work with these populations. 

             

Clinicians who work with children, adolescents and families are in low supply and we prioritize applications from people who seek to work with these populations. ALL of our MFT interns and new associates will be asked to see some children, teens and families. We provide adequate support and supervision to increase clinical skills with these populations. While we understand everyone has a vision of their own ideal clients, working with children, teens and families is not optional at Protea Wellness in your internship year if you're an MFT intern.

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ALL clinicians at Protea Wellness should be prepared to work with LGBTQIA+ clients, BIPOC clients and neurodiverse clients. Our assumption is that you will need support when encountering unfamiliar concerns and that you will ask for that support. Please be aware of these policies if you wish to pursue an internship with Protea Wellness.

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Because of the nature of working with children, teens, families, and marginalized populations, we ask that all interns and new associates commit to working either two evenings a week (from 5-7pm), or one half day on the weekend. This is a policy that allows for adequate space in your schedule for these populations. We also ask that, barring health concerns, that all interns see clients in person for at least part of the week. Interns are expected to work up to scheduling 12 clients a week, so they finish their internships on time. 

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Protea Wellness offers dyadic consult for interns weekly.  Two interns work with one supervisor for 1.5 hours every week.  Individual support is always available. The group as a whole has four active supervisors (one AAMFT approved) and all can be contacted in a crisis or with immediate concerns.

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Protea often hires our interns and we pride ourselves on “growing our own talent.”  We truly want our interns to develop their skills and to come out of internship well-rounded and not burnt out.  We have had a number of interns who are art therapy students, play therapy students or sex therapy students and encourage people from those programs to apply. 

 

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

• In a Master's Program in Clinical Counseling, Therapy or Social Work

• Available to work 10-12 hours of clinical work per week

• Desire to learn about and work with neurodiverse clients (for all) and youth with behavioral issues (for MFT interns)

• Desire to work with LGBTQIA+ clients and knowledge about the community.

• You seek feedback from and collaboration with the clinical director, supervisors and other clinicians in the practice, and respond to feedback with openness and grace

• You are able and willing to consistently respond to clients, the clinical director and other clinicians within 24 hours of contact, and to complete clinical notes within 24 hours of a session

• Ability to be humble and accountable, admit areas of growth, and work to remedy problems with the help of others in the practice with a spirit of generosity

• Desire to continue learning about oppression and privilege, and how it impacts the clients we work with, and ourselves

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Hours:

We understand that you are in school and may also have a part time job, so you will have some flexibility in scheduling. It is expected that you will be available to work at least one weekend day or two weekday evenings.

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We Provide:

• A steady stream of referrals

• A paid internship, including paid admin/training time

• Liability insurance (in addition to your school's liability insurance)

• Complete billing support

• Numerous monthly consult groups

• Comfortable office space (or support working via telehealth), with ample parking available and close proximity to multiple bus lines

• HIPAA compliant EHR, phone line, email and fax

• The ability to manage your own schedule, choose a documentation style that works for you, and work collaboratively with other therapists

• Clinical supervision

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We only accept new interns in Fall and Spring quarters, except in special circumstances.

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We typically have between 4-6 interns at any one time. Our interns usually finish their internship in 1 year, barring extraordinary circumstances. We cannot guarantee an opening in any particular quarter, and if we do not have an opening for you in a specific quarter, we may offer you an internship beginning in a later quarter.

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For a fall quarter start, we will be reviewing applications the September a YEAR before start date, and doing interviews in early November the year before start date. For a spring quarter start we will be reviewing applications the April a YEAR before start date and interviewing at the beginning of June the year before start date. If you are late applying, you may still submit an application, with the possibility that we may have an unexpected space open.

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Thank you for your interest in working with us!

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We are currently accepting applications for Spring 2026 term.

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For CFT intern applicants: please send cover letter and resume to us at: katiejo@ProteaWellness.org and fill out our supplemental application here: Protea Supplemental Application

 

For MSW & MHC intern applicants: please send cover letter and resume to us at: jenk@ProteaWellness.org and fill out our supplemental application here: Protea Supplemental Application

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