Understanding Practicum
TLDR:
You MUST complete practicum to see clients and to start geting paid.
APL partners with The Center Origin in Denver, CO to train you well and meet all the requirements
You can complete practicum administered by any DORA approved training program if you have already completed a didactic program
APL sponsored practicum takes place in a 5 day, retreat-style model 1 or 2 times per year
What is practicum?
All accredited facilitator training programs in Colorado must include 40 hours of practicum instruction designed to help students understand the actual work of facilitation. Ideally, all students would shadow working facilitators at healing centers in their areas, watching as those more experienced facilitators worked with clients through all aspects of the client experience. Unfortunately, healing centers are not operating in all parts of Colorado and few of them are set up to work with practicum students. Additionally, many facilitators do not feel comfortable bringing inexperienced students into their work, even for teaching purposes.
Fortunately, APL has had the opportunity to explore and implement various components of practicum as we built our program in Oregon in 2023. That experimentation with different methods led to a practicum design that combines the best parts of direct observation and practice with activities that help students develop the muscle memory and vocabulary necessary for effective facilitiation. This combined approach creates a singlular experience that provides students with the greatest opportunity to really understand what this work is and how to do it well before they start seeing clients. Additionally, this model provides APL faculty the ability to inform and correct students as they perform the work of facilitation in a way that reflects real-world practice.
You can complete practicum with any DORA approved training program once you have completed your didactic training. Most APL students complete practicum with their didactic cohort, but the Colorado regulations allow for flexibility such that an APL grad could complete practicum with a different program or another program’s grad could complete APL practicum.
All practicum must be administered by licensed instructors or practicum coordinators officially associated with an approved training program and conducted at a licensed healing center center using licesed natural medicine product. Please verify that your practicum training program is DORA approved and the instructors are licensed facilitators so that you can be sure your training will qualify for licensure.
When AND WHERE does practicum happen?
APL practicum events are scheduled around the calendar of an ongoing didactic training cohort and usually happen once or twice per year. Our 2025 model uses a 5 day, retreat-style intensive to provide dense learning opportunities and promote learner group cohesion.
2025 Practicum Dates
Spring Dates: April 23-27, 2025
Summer Dates: July 9-13, 2025
We are partnered with The Center Origin in Denver, CO for the delivery of our Colorado practicum training.
We have also created the opportunity for people not in an APL cohort to participate in practicum to satisfy their license requirements for CO.
How Does it work?
The in-person event is usually a five day intensive toward the end of any cohort schedule. APL has created a series of in-person activities to train you and give you the opportunity to practice real-world faciliation skills like patient intakes and preparation, de-escalation skills practice and situational challenges, and critical analysis of sessions to highlight best practicies and train the ability to recognize deficiencies in practice.
When an ammenable client is available or if there are students in the training cohort who want to serve as a client for their peers to observe and learn from, APL works with licensed facilitators at a licensed healing center to take the client(s) through the whole facilitation experience, start-to-finish, so that students can observe, practice, and ultimately discuss and debrief the process. It is not always possible to secure a willing lay-person client, often students will undergo facilitation as part of a group of students alternating different faciliation roles (client, facilitator, observer/support). Thus, APL practicums utilize real clients with real facilitation whenever possible, but will always provide the training and skills to practicum students regardless of whether a live client is available or not.
Students are divided into practicum groups of no more than 4 students. Preparation for sessions is the most important element of creating rapport and trust with clients so students will be able to lead prep sessions of the client participants and carry those clients through an admin session and integration the next day under the supervision of a licensed supervisor. This way, each student can practice the whole facilitation process from start to finish to get feedback from more experience providers and to learn best practices. Practicum groups will be required to actively observe each stage of the facilitation process and to answer specific questions about their experience as part of a practicum journaling project that will be submitted with final paperwork for the practicum part of the course.
How do I enroll in Practicum?
If you are enrolled, or plan to enroll, in APL didactic training, you’ll indicate your intention to participate in APL practicum on your didactic application. More details will follow once your enrollment is approved and you are participating in the didactic course
If you have completed a didactic program with another approved training program and you want to participate in APL practicum. Read more about that process here. You can apply to the practicum-only training from that page.