The posting
Vibrant Emotional Health
Mental Health Internship Program
Fall 2026-Spring 2027
Internship Overview:
Vibrant Emotional Health is offering a year-long mental health counseling internship program for up to 8 Masters level Interns from Mental Health Counseling and Social Work programs. The interns will be placed for 5-month rotations within our Adolescent Skills Centers, Family Youth and Peer Support Services, and optional 2-month rotations through Direct Service Community Based teams. The overall clinical focus of our internship is to integrate clinical supports in community based, peer friendly programs. Most New Yorkers most in need of mental health supports are hindered by insurance, long waitlists, and laborious intake procedures to access services. Our model infuses mental health and clinically informed practices in innovative community centered models. The hope is that we can provide services that prevent the need for ongoing traditional psychiatric support. The model offers supports to youth and families, who are dealing with emotional, social concerns and are challenged by traditional systems. Our goal is to provide psychoeducation and access to supports, and where able to integrate more clinical supports where access is limited.
Clinical interns will learn to work holistically with families dealing with mental health challenges. Interns will be placed at one of our Adolescent Skills Center sites to learn unique approaches to educational and vocational supports for youth between the ages of 16-22, who are looking to get additional training and education to accomplish their own goals. Interns will rotate to our Family Youth Peer Support programs, where the focus is empowering families and caregivers of these children to better understand mental health systems and concurrent supports available. The focus of this rotation is to support families dealing with the difficulties inherent in advocating for services for their youth across a variety of clinical presentations. All interns are also eligible for optional 2-month rotations with Direct service teams, a Child and Family Treatment Support Service, and a Child and Adolescent Care Coordination Team. These programs provide direct therapeutic services in the community, where interns will shadow services with families and learn about diagnosis and development of interventions for families in the community.
The internship program is based on a 16-20 hour week at minimum. Individual supervision, group supervision, and didactics will be offered on a weekly basis by the shared faculty present at all sites and additional colleagues’ representative of the wide array of programs offered at Vibrant. The internship will begin in September and will end by August.
Community Program Rotations Overview:
Adolescent Skills Center
975 Kelly Street, STE 302
Bronx, NY 10459
Description
The Adolescent Skills Center offers a comprehensive vocational training program and provides a High School Equivalency Diploma educational program through the ReStart Academy and the NYC Dept. of Education. The ASC program is for youth ages 16-22 who have emotional and behavioral challenges that interfere with school or finding and keeping a job. Youth must reside in one of the five boroughs of NYC (Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens) to enroll.
Youth admitted into the program will have an opportunity to participate in the following components:
☐ TASC Preparation through the ReStart Academy and NYC Dept. of Education (ages 17-21)
☐ Vocational Assessment and Evaluation (ages 16-21)
☐ Career Exposure (ages 16-21)
☐ Vocational and Educational Remediation (ages 16-21)
☐ Placement and Social-Emotional Support Services (ages 16-21)
The program is funded through a contract with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Service Components
Education
- Youth, aged 17-21, who qualify for the ReStart Academy can attend TASC Preparation classes.
- The ReStart Academy (Bronx/Queens only) requires a sixth grade reading and math level for enrollment. All youth interested in the ReStart Academy will be scheduled for a TABE exam to measure math and reading levels.
- Classes are run according to the NYC Dept. of Education school year calendar and are held Monday through Friday, 8:35AM until 2:57PM.
- Tutoring is available to all youth enrolled in the program.
- College and trade school exploration and assistance with the application process for youth who have earned their HS Diploma or equivalent.
Vocational
- Youth, aged 16-21, are assisted in attaining their vocational goals through individual and group sessions.
- Youth can develop skills in completing applications, job interviewing, resume/cover letter writing, and will complete an individual vocational plan with our Job Developers.
- Volunteer positions and Internships are available for youth with an opportunity to earn paid stipends for their time and gain experience.
- Career Club for DOE and Vocational Students – Resume Building, Career Mapping, Mock Interviewing, Professionalism, Continuing Education, Budgeting, Understanding Pay Check, Taxes
Social – Emotional
- Youth receive assistance in attaining their social and emotional goals through ongoing therapeutic support from Case Managers and Clinical Interns.
- Short term mental health counseling and referrals to long-term therapy are provided.
- Personal growth is encouraged through attending our psychoeducational groups. Group topics include: finance and budgeting, coping skills, sexual health and relationships, LGBTQ topics, current events, know your rights, mental health education, alcohol and substance abuse, peer support & advocacy, and more.
Internship Guidelines:
2 internship slots are available to work within each of our 3 Adolescent Skills Center sites. Qualified interns must be enrolled in a Masters Level Mental Health Counseling Program, and be in good educational standing to dedicate at minimum 16-20 hours per week on site. Schedules are determined with collaboration with site coordinators. Interns will be responsible for a rotating 5-10 youth caseload. Interns will assist in initial intakes, and working with the staff on supporting the student toward achieving their identified goals. Case conferences, psychological assessment, and brief supportive counseling are hallmarks of this experiences.
Family & Youth Peer Support Services
367 East 149th Street, 7th Floor
Bronx, NY 10455
Description
The Family Youth and Peer Support Services offers peer-led support to families and caregivers who support youth, who are facing challenges in child serving systems, such as educational settings or in the community. Most youth are in need of services due to concerns over their well-being, be it medical/mental health supports, linkage to resources, or advocacy in educational systems. Families often need psychoeducation on services in the community, mental health concerns, and their rights. Clinical interns take an active role in providing psychoeducation to families, who often have mistrust of a number of systems. A key component of this rotation is the importance of collaboration with Peer Advocates, staff with lived experience, and their abilities in engaging families outside of a traditional treatment model. Interns will gain experience in co facilitating groups, meeting with families and youth to provide knowledge and education about services and mental health concerns. Interns will also be able to engage in outreach and community events to provide services in the community.
Optional 2-Month Community Based Team Rotation
Youth and Family Wellness Team (YFWS)
Child Adolescent Collaborative Team (CACT)
Description
The Youth Wellness and Family Service is an OMH Licensed Child and Family Treatment Support Service (CFTSS) team. The program is a Medicaid billable service where clinicians intake referred individuals, and then set up ongoing visits in the home or school to provide therapy and psychoeducation to the child and their families. The model was developed to provide flexible care to families and remove common barriers to accessing treatment. Criteria for the program is any child age 0-21, who has an emotional or behavioral concern. The team spends time meeting with the family and collaterals to develop a comprehensive treatment to support the child in their natural settings. Interns will be able to accompany the team on visits, shadow and learn basics regarding assessment, treatment planning and interventions.
The Child and Adolescent Collaborative Team offers Case Management supports to youth age 0-21, with chronic medical and mental health disorders. Services are in the community and include partnering with families to ensure these youth are connected to all services. Visits are also in the home, school or alongside the family at important meetings, such as IEP meetings with the DOE. Interns will learn the skills needed to successfully navigate through systems on behalf of the child. Interns will also learn more about working within in a Child Health Home model, how risk is associated with needs assessments.
Clinical Intern Position Description
Position Objective: Interns use core practices in their work with young people and their families to facilitate an identified youth’s progress and outcomes towards well-being.
Position Summary: Interns work with youth and families to address their social and emotional needs and further develop their independent living and life functioning skills. Interns are assigned a caseload of 6 – 8 youth or families throughout the internship.
Major duties and responsibilities:
- Complete assessments, service plans, intakes, facilitate groups; provide crisis intervention, counseling, conflict resolution and tutoring.
- Assist youth/families with securing essential documents (e.g., social security cards, photo- ID, drivers’ licenses, etc.) in addition to concrete services, and provide referrals and linkages to health, mental health, substance use, preventive and other support services as well.
- Meets weekly with supervisor to discuss issues and concerns and provide suggestions and resolutions; reports and documents all incidents to immediate supervisor and/or Program Director with 24 hours; carries out all tasks and additional assignments as delegated by supervisor.
- Participates in and attends meetings/seminars/trainings geared towards improvement of self and agency as a whole.
- Responsible for accurate caseload entries and other assigned record keeping (i.e. tracking time and attendance for all assigned students).
- This does not limit the assignment of duties or exclude the performance of other duties not mentioned, as assigned by supervisor.
We determine base pay through a comprehensive review of skills, experience, education, certifications, geographic location, and other relevant factors. The range listed reflects the compensation parameters for the role and does not represent the full compensation package. A complete overview of compensation and benefits will be provided by the Talent Acquisition team during the hiring process.
Full time employees will be eligible for excellent comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, supplemental income insurance, employer paid disability insurance, employer paid life insurance, pre-tax FSA for medical and dependent care, and 401K available.
Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. Vibrant will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.
Vibrant Emotional Health is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to veteran status, uniformed service member status, race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, caregiver status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
Please be aware that fictitious job openings, consulting engagements, solicitations, or employment offers may be circulated on the Internet in an attempt to obtain privileged information, or to induce you to pay a fee for services related to recruitment or training. Vibrant does NOT charge any application, processing, or training fee at any stage of the recruitment or hiring process. All genuine job openings will be posted on our careers page and all communications from the Vibrant recruiting team and/or hiring managers will be from an @vibrant.org email address.
