The Backpack Healthcare Residency Program

A 24-month intensive training program

Our residency program takes graduate-level clinicians from degree to full licensure, with the supervision and support to get there.

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Program overview

Residency Program Duration & Schedule

The road from graduate school to licensure is long, and many new clinicians never finish it. Our Residency Program gives you a clear structure, guaranteed supervision, and a community of peers for the full two years. You practice as a Backpack Healthcare clinician while you train, so every lesson connects to your real caseload.

Two years to licensure.

The program is designed so you meet licensure requirements in 24 months.

Weekly individual supervision.

Get direct feedback on your day-to-day clinical work from a trained, board-certified supervisor.

Weekly group supervision.

Join live and asynchronous group sessions that also count toward your board's supervision hours.

Guaranteed hours.

Residents receive 100+ hours of individual supervision and 70+ hours of group supervision or CEU opportunities.

A Community of Peers

You won't go through this alone. Residents train alongside other early-career clinicians in a supportive, collaborative setting. Peer and professional consultation is built into the program, so you always have people to learn from and lean on.

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The Curriculum

The curriculum is built around one goal: turning what you learned in school into confident clinical practice.

Theoretical orientation development.

Define and refine the approach that guides your work.

Diagnosis and treatment.

Assess and treat common DSM-5-TR diagnoses.

Interdisciplinary collaboration.

Work with other professionals, including as part of a treatment team at Backpack.

Ethics and professional standards.

Profession-specific training aligned with the NASW and ACA codes of ethics.

Licensing exam preparation.

The final three sessions focus on preparing for the licensing exam, informed by NASW's knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) guidelines.

Eligibility

The Residency Program is a fit for you if you are:

1

A graduate-level counselor or social worker working toward licensure

2

Comfortable providing telehealth care to children, adolescents, young adults, and families with mental and behavioral health needs

3

Located in a state where Backpack Healthcare offers the program: Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, or Rhode Island

4

A Backpack Healthcare employee, or applying to become one (fee-for-service and salaried roles both qualify)

Supervisor matching

We match each resident with a supervisor based on profession, state, and working style. Before you start, you'll complete a short DISC assessment. Your results help us pair you with a supervisor you'll work well with.

Take the DISC Assessment