Preparing the Next Generation of Social Workers 

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new internship year, and I am so excited to welcome our 2027 master’s-level social work interns to Molly and Me Counseling and Training Center.

As I sit here thinking about the year ahead, I’m realizing just how much of my summer has been spent preparing for this group. I’ve created and updated internship manuals, monthly learning goals, reflection sheets, intake and diagnostic assignments, treatment-planning activities, parent-coaching exercises, case conceptualization projects, intervention workbooks, supervision expectations, reading lists, orientation materials—and probably a few things I’ve forgotten.

I’ve planned activities, organized offices, put together survival kits, created Bright Spots boards, gathered vision-board supplies, coordinated with supervisors, adjusted schedules, and spent countless hours thinking about one central question:

How do we give these new clinicians an internship experience that truly prepares them for the work ahead?

Learning More Than the Basics

Of course, I want our interns to learn how to write a note, complete an assessment, develop a treatment plan, and understand the clinical and ethical responsibilities that come with this profession. Those skills matter.

But more than that, I want them to learn how to be therapists.

There is a difference.

Becoming a therapist means learning to sit comfortably in the uncomfortable. It means knowing when to speak and when to simply be present. It means learning how to have difficult conversations with parents, trusting the therapeutic process, and recognizing that growth does not always happen on our timeline—or in ways that are immediately obvious.

It means making mistakes and discovering that those mistakes can become some of our greatest opportunities for learning. It means asking questions, seeking supervision, accepting feedback, celebrating successes, and gradually discovering who you are as a clinician.

An internship should be about so much more than accumulating hours and completing assignments. It is an opportunity to develop confidence, curiosity, self-awareness, and the ability to remain present with clients through progress, setbacks, uncertainty, and change.

Finding the Bright Spots

One of the things I hope to teach this year’s interns is to intentionally look for the Bright Spots.

This work can be hard. We often sit with children and families during some of the most difficult chapters of their lives. If we aren’t careful, it can become easy to focus only on what isn’t working, what still needs to change, or how far there is left to go.

But there are Bright Spots everywhere.

It’s the child who takes a risk they couldn’t take three months ago.

It’s the parent who suddenly sees their child’s behavior through a different lens.

It’s the client who uses a coping skill without being reminded.

It’s the child who finally feels safe enough to let you into their world.

It’s the parent who tells you they are seeing their child differently.

Sometimes progress is big and obvious. More often, it is quiet.

I want our interns to learn to notice those moments—not only because they tell us something important about our clients, but because learning to see them helps us remain grounded, hopeful, and connected to why we chose this work in the first place.

That is why each of our interns will have a Bright Spots board this year: a place to collect those moments of growth, encouragement, connection, accomplishment, and reminders that the work they are doing matters.

Preparing Therapists, Not Just Interns

There has been a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes this summer preparing for this internship year. And yet, this remains one of my favorite parts of what I get to do.

After all these years as a social worker, I still love this profession. I love working with children and families, but I have also discovered how much I love teaching, supervising, and watching new clinicians begin to find their footing.

There is something pretty incredible about watching an intern walk through the door unsure of themselves and then, month by month, seeing them begin to trust their instincts, understand the process, find their clinical voice, and realize:

I can do this. I am becoming a therapist.

I know the year ahead will bring challenges. There will be questions, mistakes, uncomfortable moments, breakthroughs, laughter, probably a few tears, and a whole lot of learning.

That’s exactly how it should be.

My hope is that when these interns leave us in the spring, they will take with them far more than the required clinical hours. I hope they leave with practical skills, confidence, humility, curiosity, a deeper understanding of themselves, and a commitment to seeing the child and family behind every diagnosis and treatment plan.

And I hope they have learned to always look for the Bright Spots.

Welcome, Class of 2027

So, to our Class of 2027: your offices are ready. Your supervisors are ready. Your materials are ready.

And after a summer of planning, creating, organizing, revising, and preparing—I am definitely ready.

Tomorrow, we begin.

One of the reminders I return to again and again in my own work is the same one I hope our interns carry with them throughout this year:

Watch. Wait. Wonder.

Stay curious. Lead with connection. Trust the process.

Welcome to the journey.