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Counseling and Mental Health Center Social Work Interns Complete Internship, Prepare for Next Chapter

Four interns from the Steve Hicks School of Social Work joined the CMHC at the start of fall 2023 semester and are now preparing to take the next steps in their careers once their one-year internship is complete.

“When the interns start at the beginning of August, they arrive starry-eyed and anxious,” Alicia Garces, associate director of social work training program at the Counseling and Mental Health Center, said. “The fact that they have been accepted and invited into this role is a big deal.”

Garces and a team of her colleagues begin recruitment for the following school year beginning in the spring when they meet with students from the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Interns are then selected from the pool of applicants and serve from fall to the end of the spring.

This internship model involves a phased approach: interns undergo training in August, transition to half-time social work roles in the fall, and conclude with full-time commitments in the spring.

Garces said that the interns “jump right in” as they start their training and prepare to see clients for the first time.

“We spend the month of August helping them learn about the training side of our program,” Garces said. “They get training time with all clinicians in our specific areas so that by the time August is over they have a good sense of our culture and then they start providing services to clients.”

At the start of the fall semester, when interns are transitioning into their half-time roles, they work with clinicians at CMHC who sit in with them as supervisors during their sessions.

“When they come in, they are brand new,” Garces said. “They are in their second year at the School of Social Work, but they are new to this model. It is so encouraging to watch them as they grow and learn.”

Since August the four interns have completed their required hours of training as they worked with licensed CMHC clinicians to meet and connect with their own set of clients.

Now, as the semester draws to a close, Seth Nowlin, Em Manning, Reagan Leibovitz, and Pilar Ciria reflect on their experiences and the paths that led them here.

Nowlin completed their undergraduate degree in anthropology and religious studies from Texas State University.

“I really enjoyed those disciplines and in a lot of ways I feel like they still inform me in some ways today, but I did not end up working in anthropology after I graduated,” Nowlin said. “I also decided not to go back to graduate school right away either.”

After a decade in another career, Nowlin aspired for change. Inspiration struck while working with their own therapist, igniting a passion to pursue a career as a clinical social worker.

“I was very motivated to move into clinical social work,” Nowlin said. “It was really important to me to go to school at UT Austin because I've been in this area since 2007. I think it felt so important to me to be from the place that I worked to have a little bit of familiarity and time with the different populations to truly know the place itself."

Nowlin was accepted to start at the UT Austin School of Social Work in 2022. Their first placement was at Catholic Charities of Central Texas, primarily assisting veterans with financial assistance. Additionally, they facilitated a coping strategies skills class at the Travis County Correctional Complex.

Nowlin credits their previous experiences for setting them up for success in their current role as a social work intern at CMHC.

“While this has been one of the most challenging, growth-oriented phases of my life, I know I am getting so much from this experience,” Nowlin said. “I love our cohort and I'm so grateful for the other three people that are here with me."

Nowlin expressed their gratitude for getting hands-on experience from multiple specialties.

“I am part of the Mindful Eating Team and the Voices Against Violence team, so I'm meeting with clients that are kind of presenting those key issues,” Nowlin said. “You can just imagine a lot of clients don't fit into neat, tidy categories - life isn't like that. It’s nice to have a generalist, robust awareness and set of skills so that I can meet people where they're at and adapt with them through the clinical processes.”

Em Manning attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, where they earned an undergraduate degree in feminist studies. Following graduation, Manning gained experience working at Planned Parenthood as a health center assistant. Much like their fellow intern Nowlin, Manning spent nearly a decade outside of the social work field before pursuing studies at the UT Austin School of Social Work.

“I have always been interested in social justice, and I thought about going to school directly after undergrad for social work, but wanted a break to get some experience in the real world,” Manning said. “I'm honestly so glad I did.”

In 2022, Manning was accepted to the School of Social Work in 2022 and spent their first placement as a social work intern at Atkins Early College High School, focusing on student support services. Manning found this experience invaluable, working closely with students as they navigated their paths toward the future.

“It has been really awesome to transition from that first internship where I was working with high school juniors and seniors to here, where I am mostly working with college freshmen, so I felt like I kind of moved with them, even though I work with different clients,” Manning said. “I think a lot of the things that students are struggling with have common threads that come up like adjustment, academic stress, identity development, and things that happen when you’re a young adult.”

Manning said they have grown and learned through their time at CMHC and are excited to see what their future holds as they apply the knowledge they’ve gained.

“I truly can't imagine a better place to be, to be honest,” Manning said. “I feel so much gratitude for being in this placement. I really feel like people have invested in us here and that feels incredible.”

Reagan Leibovitz attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C. majoring in psychology. Through her time as an undergraduate student, Leibovitz volunteered for the national crisis text line and provided peer support on campus, immersing herself in mental health advocacy.

Additionally, Leibovitz also minored in education, inquiry and justice, which impacted her decision to pursue social work. Right after completing her undergraduate degree, Leibovitz applied and was accepted into the graduate program at the UT Austin School of Social Work.

“When I started the social work program, it just felt so in alignment with my values and what I was looking for so the transition was pretty easy,” Leibovitz said. “There are the ups and downs and the stresses of being a grad student, but there is a deep sense of meaning and fulfillment that I’ve been getting out of this experience.”

Leibovitz reflected on her initial placement during her first year in the social work program, which was at Catholic Charities Counseling Center. This experience solidified her interest in counseling and clinical spaces.

“This second placement at CMHC has been amazing,” Leibovitz said. “What stands out to me day to day is that I'm always working with people who are so passionate about the work that they're doing and also passionate about helping us interns through the training process.”

Leibovitz expressed the joy she feels when she helps young adults at UT is unmatched.

"It's such a unique, interesting time for students in terms of them transitioning away from home and having independence for the first time, so I think that just kind of holding space for both is one reason why I enjoy working with college students,” Leibovitz said. "To hear what students are dealing with, and to watch them persist and continue in spite of that, and to maybe even find meaning through the growth that they're experiencing is really inspiring to me."

Leibovitz said she felt so much gratitude toward the clinicians she has worked with and learned from at CMHC. She believes this experience will serve her well as she moves towards obtaining her clinical social worker licensure.

Pilar Ciria began her secondary educational journey at El Paso Community College before transferring to UT Austin to pursue her undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders. Following this, she earned her master’s degree in speech-language pathology and then started her career at the Austin Independent School District.

“After I started working for Austin ISD, I always felt very interested in more of the emotional components of things and the different needs of the kids,” Ciria said. “There were so many layers to it. I wanted to do more and also help provide more emotional support as they're learning new things and navigating so much. So, when talking to my own therapist, he mentioned that it sounded like I really wanted to do what he does.”

After being accepted into the UT Austin School of Social Work, Ciria began working towards her goal of being a licensed clinical social worker.

“Last year, I was working with Cap City Kids for my first placement,” Ciria said. “It felt familiar because I was still working with kids, which is something I am passionate about. It was overall a wonderful experience and allowed me to also connect parents to resources as well as provide support.”

Ciria said she was excited and nervous to start her second placement at CMHC.

“I'd never worked with young adults and I had heard a lot about the Counseling and Mental Health Center,” Ciria said. “I knew this opportunity would be a starting point to transition into something that really could change my life.”

Ciria said her time as an intern at CMHC has been beneficial, inspiring and full of growth.

“I love working with the students,” Ciria said. "I get to help them through the complexity of what they are navigating and they can tell me how they're feeling so we have discussions about those feelings.”

Ciria said it has been nice to be able to connect with students on campus and that her days as an undergraduate and master's student at UT have helped her journey.

“It has been interesting to remember what my own story was like when I was a student, and just seeing what students are going through now and their own challenges just gives me a different perspective,” Ciria said. “When I get to hear their stories, it feels like such a privilege to personally learn from their experiences and help them also learn from their experiences.”

Ciria said she is excited to see what is next for her career path once her internship is over. She explained that she looks forward to taking away a new approach to working with clients.

“One thing I’ve learned to do is instead of me leading and guiding and wanting to ‘tell’ a student what to do, I’ve started to ask them to tell me where they want to go and reassure them that I'll go behind them and we'll figure it out together.”

Ciria said she feels an immense amount of gratitude as her internship comes to a close.

“I'm just very grateful for this opportunity and the support that I’ve had as I learned to do new things,” Ciria said. “Just being able to talk to other clinicians that have experience and learn from them and the other interns has been amazing.”

This cohort of social work interns will conclude their internship on the final class day this semester.

“We’ve had such a wonderful year,” Garces said. “They have been working so hard and it is nice to see that they are witnessing their recognition of the value and rewards of their hard work.”

At the recruitment interviews for the 2024-2025 social work intern cohort, the current interns were given the opportunity to speak with the candidates.

“To hear them speak so proudly about their experiences made me feel so proud,” Garces said. “It was so wonderful. They themselves were in that same room just a year ago hearing about the social work internship at the Counseling and Mental Health Center.”

-Erin Garcia, Healthyhorns Outreach and Social Media Coordinator

#influencingthelonghornlife #livingthelonghornlife #makeityourtexas #utaustin #youarehere #youchangetheworld #youdoyou #positivity #mental health #health

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