Virtual Clinical Training Center (VCTC)
A Telehealth Training Clinic for Counseling Students
The VCTC at The Chicago School is a telehealth clinic built to expand access to counseling services for underserved communities while giving students meaningful opportunities to practice telehealth care.
As one of the nation’s first telehealth graduate community mental health training clinics, the VCTC offers counseling students applied learning experiences throughout their programs, helping them enter fieldwork with greater confidence. Selected students can take that training further, serving real clients under the supervision of qualified licensed professionals.
How Counseling Students Engage With the VCTC
Students in The Chicago School’s M.A. Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Ph.D. Counselor Education and Supervision programs will have opportunities to engage with the VCTC throughout their program experience.
Master’s-level students engage with the VCTC learning experiences through live labs, learning activities, community-oriented training, and other experiential activities that support clinical decision-making and professional identity development.
Doctoral students can engage with the VCTC at an advanced level, including facilitating the live labs and supervising master’s-level students and conducting community workshops/training The VCTC can also help fulfill required doctoral competency hours in leadership and advocacy, teaching, research, and counseling.
A Competitive Placement Opportunity
Want deeper clinical experience through the VCTC? You can apply for direct placement at the clinic after completing prerequisite coursework.
Placement is competitive and includes clear expectations for student readiness. If selected, you can build your clinical experience and expertise by providing supervised telehealth counseling services to actual clients. By remaining small and selective, the VCTC prioritizes ethical care, high-quality supervision, and meaningful preparation for virtual counseling practice.
Serve Clients With Real Counseling Needs
As part of its mission to expand access to high-quality care, the VCTC provides telehealth counseling services to clients at no cost.
If selected for direct placement, you can support clients through:
- Individual, couples, and family counseling
- Substance use and addiction support
- Phase-of-life changes
- Adjustment issues
- Family and couples counseling
- Clinical assessment
- Depression support
- Anxiety support
- Suicide screening
- Case referral
Learn From Telehealth Leaders
Each faculty member is board certified in telehealth, bringing deep clinical expertise to your training.
Why Telehealth Training Matters
More than half of the U.S. population lives in an area without enough mental health professionals to meet community needs, according to a December 2023 HRSA report. The VCTC reflects The Chicago School’s long-standing commitment to filling the gap, preparing you to use telehealth counseling to reach clients in communities where mental health support may be harder to find, increasing healthcare equity and access to competent and qualified care.
Telehealth can also create opportunities to serve clients across state lines. Once licensed, you may be eligible to expand your counseling practice into participating Counseling Compact states, creating more opportunities to serve clients through virtual care.