Training Program

Certified by the American Association of Suicidology, CSS offers a variety of counseling services to the community including: individual, couples, family and group counseling for the bereaved, particularly those grieving sudden, traumatic deaths. Home-bound, frail elderly persons residing in Alameda County are eligible to receive free counseling as part of the Agency's Senior Program. Our on-site, geriatric mental health program provides individual, couples and group therapy to ambulatory seniors. We provide school based counseling to children elementary through high school. In addition to face-to-face counseling, CSS responds to nearly 60,000 calls per year on our 24-hour telephone crisis lines. Clients served by each of these programs represent a broad spectrum in terms of age, ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Responsibilities of interns include: a one year commitment to the Agency; counsel a minimum of six client hours per week (clients may be chosen from bereavement program, school based program, senior program, and/or facilitating support groups); work one 4-hour shift per week on the crisis lines; co-facilitate at least one 10 week support group (optional); atend one hour of individual supervision per week (additional group supervision required for support group facilitators); attend 2 hours of clinical consultation twice (every other week) each month and fulfill all record keeping protocols established by the Agency.

Our internship is fairly demanding. Interns receive over 100 hours of didactic and experiential training. Weekend seminars in conjunction with one-on-one crisis line work with a trainer, individual supervision and comprehensive printed training materials result in a unique and highly regarded training program. The Agency's supervisors come from richly varied clinical backgrounds. CSS offers ongoing training and supervision of the supervisors. Given the Program's distinct clinical settings, a variety of treatment modalities are utilized which are contingent upon the specific needs of the client(s), the individual supervisor's orientation and the intern's areas of interest.

CSS is looking for persons who are level-headed in crisis situations, who are committed to personal and professional growth, who have had or are in their own therapy, who can work independently, who are reliable and responsible and who recognize his/her limitations as a counselor. Interns who successfully complete our program gain valuable skills that will serve them for their entire professional lives.

Training Program

CSS is a training agency. For nearly 40 years, CSS has provided training, experience and supervision to students from over a dozen bay area colleges and universities. Over the years we have developed a unique training program as well as opportunities for students, trainees and professionals to work with a variety of client populations. CSS provides a variety of training opportunities from lay persons to seasoned mental health professionals. CSS offers a range of dynamic training and professional growth opportunities. Currently, CSS' services include:

• 24-hour telephone crisis line
• Grief counseling (individual, family, groups, and debriefing services)
• In-home and On-site geriatric mental health program (individual, couple, family and group)
• School based counseling (elementary through high school)
• Suicide attempters' group
• Education and consultation (schools, professionals, and hostage negotiation teams)
• Training and professional development

Lay persons receive supportive and thorough training in counseling, suicide assessment and crisis intervention. Graduate students and interns receive excellent supervision and have an opportunity to learn from some of the most seasoned mental health experts in the community.

Professionals are also afforded the opportunity to gain skills and further develop expertise in crisis intervention, assessment, gerontology, grief counseling, critical incident stress debriefing and supervision. CSS provides training, support, and CEU's to licensed individuals affiliated with the agency.

For more information on our training program, contact Chrissy Brewer at 510-420-2471 or visit our contact page.