Looking for a Paid Counseling Internship in Western Colorado?
Illuminate has always been about more than providing therapy—it’s about growing therapists, too. Founder Natalie Hanks, MA, LPC-S, LAC, RPT, at our 2026 Illuminate Wellness Day, celebrating the connection, learning, and community we hope every developing clinician experiences here.
Graduate school teaches you how to become a therapist.Internship is often where you begin discovering what kind of therapist you want to become.
At Illuminate Play Therapy & Counseling, we believe internship should be more than collecting clinical hours and completing assignments.
It should be a place where you can ask questions, try new skills, receive meaningful supervision, make mistakes safely, develop confidence, and begin building your own identity as a clinician.
Illuminate offers paid graduate-level clinical internship opportunities in Western Colorado for students who want hands-on experience within a small, specialized counseling practice.
Our work is grounded in a simple belief:
Therapy isn't one-size-fits-all—and neither is becoming a therapist.
A Paid Clinical Internship
We believe graduate interns are learning and providing meaningful clinical services.
Illuminate internships are paid per completed client session.
Interns are compensated for completed sessions according to the compensation structure established in their individual internship agreement.
Your internship is also a training experience. Depending on your placement, this can include clinical supervision, direct client experience, case conceptualization, treatment planning, documentation support, experiential learning, exposure to specialty approaches, professional development, and private-practice experience.
Specific compensation, supervision structure, scheduling expectations, university requirements, and placement expectations are discussed before a student accepts an internship.
Because compensation is session-based, internships do not include a guaranteed salary or guaranteed number of client sessions.
What Is an Internship at Illuminate Like?
Interns have opportunities to learn within a practice serving children, adolescents, adults, and families with a variety of clinical needs.
Depending on your educational program, experience, interests, scope of practice, and current opportunities within Illuminate, your internship may include exposure to:
Play-based and developmentally responsive therapy
Trauma-informed counseling
Neurodivergent-affirming care
ADHD and executive-functioning support
Expressive arts and creative interventions
Sandtray and metaphor-based interventions
Somatic and nervous-system-informed approaches
Attachment and family work
Foster and adoptive family support
Grief and life transitions
Faith-integrated counseling when requested by the client
You are not expected to arrive already knowing how to do all of this.
You're here to learn.
Specialized modalities require appropriate education, training, and supervision before they are practiced independently.
We Want You to Develop Your Clinical Identity
Illuminate isn't designed to produce therapists who all practice exactly alike.
Internship is an opportunity to begin discovering:
Who do you connect with clinically?
What populations light you up?
What kinds of cases challenge you?
What therapeutic approaches make sense to your brain?
Where do you need more training?
What are your strengths?
What kind of therapist are you becoming?
The goal isn't to create another version of your supervisor.
It's to help you become a thoughtful, ethical, competent version of you as a therapist.
Supervision That Goes Beyond “How Was Your Week?”
Clinical supervision is an active part of the Illuminate internship experience.
Supervision can include case conceptualization, treatment planning, documentation, ethics, risk and safety, professional boundaries, therapeutic use of self, strengths, areas for growth, and professional development.
We also value experiential learning.
Therapists frequently ask clients to engage in play, metaphor, creativity, body awareness, reflection, and vulnerability.
We believe there is value in clinicians experiencing therapeutic concepts themselves—not simply reading about them.
Natalie Marie Hanks, MA, LPC-S, LAC, RPT
Founder & Clinical Supervisor
LPC-S is professional shorthand for Colorado-qualified LPC clinical supervisor; Colorado does not issue a separate LPC-S license.Learn More Than What Happens in the Therapy Room
Illuminate is intentionally a small-practice environment.
Depending on the placement, interns may also gain exposure to client consultations, onboarding, scheduling, documentation, referral relationships, interdisciplinary collaboration, insurance and billing concepts, private-practice systems, professional marketing, community outreach, and program development.
Interns aren't expected to run the business.
But if private practice might be part of your future, we don't think the business side of becoming a therapist needs to remain a mystery.
Your Clinical Space
We believe the therapy environment matters.
Our established in-person clinicians generally have their own dedicated clinical offices rather than constantly rotating between shared therapy rooms.
Internship is a little different.
Because internships are temporary training placements, interns may share Natalie's office or another designated training space rather than receiving a dedicated private office.
You'll still have an appropriate clinical environment for the work you're doing.
Who Might Be a Good Fit?
You don't need to have your future completely figured out.
We're looking for interns who are curious, teachable, reflective, reliable, creative, open to feedback, willing to ask questions, and interested in developing their own clinical identity.
We also want students who take documentation, ethics, client welfare, professional boundaries, and scope of competence seriously.
And you should be comfortable saying:
“I don't know yet.”
You're an intern.
You're not supposed to know everything yet.
That's what training and supervision are for.
Interested in Play Therapy?
Play therapy is an important part of Illuminate's identity.
Interns interested in working with children may have opportunities to learn more about developmentally responsive, play-based, expressive, and creative approaches.
Completing an internship at Illuminate does not automatically result in the Registered Play Therapist (RPT) credential.
Formal RPT education, supervision, and credentialing requirements are separate from your internship.
Interested in Trauma Work?
Trauma treatment is another significant part of Illuminate's clinical work.
Depending on your experience, training, placement, and scope, you may have opportunities to learn about trauma-informed care, regulation, attachment, somatic concepts, expressive interventions, and trauma case conceptualization.
Specialized trauma modalities require appropriate training and supervision.
What About ADHD & Neurodivergence?
Understanding different brains is an important part of our work.
Interns may gain experience supporting neurodivergent children, teens, adults, and families while learning to look beyond behavior alone.
Our work may include ADHD, executive functioning, regulation, sensory needs, family support, and helping clients better understand how their brains interact with their environments.
Can Faith Be Part of the Work?
Yes—when the client wants it.
Illuminate serves people with different beliefs and backgrounds.
Christian counseling and faith integration are available when requested by the client and clinically appropriate.
Interns interested in learning how to ethically integrate a client's faith into counseling may have opportunities to explore this within supervision and clinical work.
Faith is never imposed upon a client.
Where Are Illuminate Internships Located?
Illuminate is based in Western Colorado, with professional and clinical opportunities connected to the Rifle and Grand Junction areas and virtual services where clinically and legally appropriate.
Specific internship locations, schedules, populations, and virtual opportunities depend upon the placement period, university requirements, student needs, and current practice opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Illuminate internships paid?
Yes.
Illuminate offers paid clinical internships, with interns compensated per completed client session.
The specific per-session rate and terms are provided during the internship application and placement process.
Payment is based on completed sessions rather than a guaranteed salary or guaranteed number of clinical hours.
How many clinical hours will I get?
Illuminate does not guarantee a particular number of clients or clinical hours.
Caseload development depends on referrals, client fit, student availability, university requirements, scheduling, and clinical readiness.
We'll review your graduate program's requirements before determining whether Illuminate can reasonably support your placement.
Will I receive supervision?
Yes.
The supervision structure, supervisor, university requirements, and expectations are established before beginning the placement.
Can I complete my internship virtually?
Virtual opportunities depend on your graduate program, client needs, current practice opportunities, applicable requirements, and the structure of the individual placement.
Do I need previous play therapy or trauma training?
Not necessarily.
We're interested in your foundational education, readiness for internship, willingness to learn, and ability to recognize and practice within your current level of competence.
Can my internship turn into a position at Illuminate?
Potentially, but completing an internship does not guarantee a future position.
When there is mutual fit, appropriate licensure or credentialing, client need, and a sustainable opportunity within the practice, there may be opportunities for clinicians to continue growing with Illuminate.
→ Learn About Joining Illuminate
Ready to Explore an Internship at Illuminate?
If you're searching for a paid graduate counseling internship in Western Colorado and Illuminate sounds like a place where you could learn and grow, we'd love to learn more about you.
When reaching out, please include your:
Name • university • graduate program/degree • anticipated internship dates • university hour requirements • supervision requirements • populations of interest • clinical interests • and why Illuminate caught your attention.
INQUIRE ABOUT AN INTERNSHIP →
Paid Graduate Internship Opportunities
Develop your clinical skills through real client experience, meaningful supervision, and specialized learning in a small Western Colorado counseling practice.
Illuminate offers paid graduate clinical internships with per-session compensation for students who are ready to learn, grow, and begin discovering who they are as therapists.
EXPLORE INTERNSHIPS →