Holden High School

March 1, 2025
The application/interview process occurs January through mid-March; applicants will be informed of decisions in early April, if not sooner.

Resume, references, and answers to application questions. 

Requirements for Admission to the Program

• You must be enrolled in or have a degree from a Master’s Program in Psychology (Clinical, Transpersonal, Feminist, Art or Movement Therapy, etc.), LPCC Track or Social Work.
• You don’t need to have previous counseling experience, but you do need to be willing to honor your clients’ experience, their process and resistance, and your relationship with them.
• It’s necessary to be willing to discover and work with your own adolescent issues.
• You should be able to communicate your wants, needs, appreciations, and dissatisfactions, receive construction criticism, and enjoy working collectively as a staff.
• It is helpful to have a sense of humor, a delight in surprises, and an appreciation of the absurd.
• Although it’s not required, the ability to thrive or at least enjoy surviving in a genuinely creative and slightly chaotic environment is highly recommended.
• Physical requirements: The essential functions of this position include typing, talking, hearing, and visual acuity including the ability to supervise students. They also include occasional stooping, standing, reaching, walking, walking upstairs, lifting, and grasping.

Application Procedure

For more information, contact Jennifer Polse Payne, LMFT, LPCC, who is the Clinical Director and Counseling Supervisor at Holden: (925) 254-0199, jenniferp@holdenhigh.org. You can also download the application on our website. 

For 2025-2026, we will have 2 Associate Counselor slots open and 1-2 trainee slots, ideally for those with experience working with teens. We will only be doing interviews after reviewing applications. If you are invited to interview, we’ll set up a time for you to come see the school and meet with Jenn (this can be done virtually). Other steps could include a second interview, coming to a Community Meeting on Monday to get a feel for how we work, or attending a Counselor training or process brunch.  

If the combination of you and Holden looks promising, you’ll be invited to be a Counselor. During the first month, we’ll give each other feedback, and we can figure out what you need and what Holden needs to work well together. When we agree we're a great match, we’ll commit to working together for the rest of the school year. If you start in the spring semester, the commitment is through the end of the following school year.

Fall: Aug/Sept 

Jenn Payne
Clinical Director
jenniferp@holdenhigh.org
925-254-0199

N/A

Intern Job Description
Holden Counselor Application