About
Learn more about Smith Internship Consulting
At Smith Internship Consulting, our core values are rooted in a human-centered and strengths-based philosophy. Drawn from years of experience in counseling, clinical supervision, and higher education, our work with organizations is grounded in collaboration, growth, and empowerment.
Through this lens, we approach every partnership with curiosity, respect, and a deep commitment to understanding each organization as a system with its own story, culture, and unique strengths to build upon.
These values guide every stage of our work, from strategic planning to clinical implementation, ensuring that our approach centers people, amplifies strengths, and builds systems that create meaningful, lasting impact.
Whether guiding organizations through new program development or supporting long-term sustainability, these core values shape how we listen, lead, and help teams build solutions that strengthen both their staff and the communities they serve.
Our Core Values
Bridging the Gap Between Community Needs and Counselor Development
Organizations nationwide, including schools, nonprofits, and community health agencies, are experiencing a growing demand for mental-health care but often face challenges with limited funding and overextended counseling staff. At the same time, most major cities have multiple counseling programs, with hundreds of students seeking community-based sites to complete the supervised training hours required for graduation and licensure, yet many struggle to find available placements. These challenges intersect, creating both a barrier and an opportunity: with the right systems in place, organizations can meet community needs while developing the next generation of mental-health professionals.
Smith Internship Consulting was founded to transform a growing national challenge into a strategic opportunity for communities and the development of future counselors. We advise and collaborate with organizations to build sustainable, internship-based counseling programs that expand access to care, strengthen staff capacity, and create meaningful training opportunities for emerging counselors. By combining strategic consulting, clinical expertise, and educational insight, we help organizations turn their vision for mental-health impact into lasting systems of community care and counselor development.
The Data Reveals the Challenges
We build the SOLUTIONS
Challenges
Unmet Community Needs
Growing demand for mental health care has outpaced available services, leaving many community members without timely or affordable counseling options.
Overextended Counseling Staff
Many organizations lack enough licensed counselors to meet growing community demand, leading to long waitlists, reduced access to care, and increased burnout and turnover among existing staff.
Limited Internship Opportunities
Counseling students struggle to find community-based sites that offer the supervised training and professional experience required for graduation and licensure, leaving many students competing for limited placement opportunities within communities.
Gaps in Infrastructure and Expertise
Many organizations could benefit from integrating counseling interns into their services or creating new programs, but often lack the structure, supervision, and expertise needed to build and sustain them successfully.
Financial Barriers to Staff Expansion
Many organizations face funding limitations that make it difficult to hire enough licensed counselors to meet growing mental health needs, restricting their ability to expand services and reach more clients. As demand continues to rise, these financial barriers limit organizational growth, overextend staff, and restrict access to care.
Solutions
Expand Community Access
We build internship-based counseling programs that expand access to affordable mental health care and help organizations serve more community members.
Strengthen Staff Capacity
We guide organizations in integrating counseling interns into existing mental health services to expand capacity and support staff well-being. With structured supervision and training systems, this sustainable model reduces burnout and strengthens retention.
Establish Collaborative Partnerships
We connect organizations with local universities and counseling programs to become approved internship sites. These partnerships create meaningful training opportunities for students while expanding access to affordable mental health care in the community.
Provide Internship Framework
We design internship frameworks that equip organizations with the structure, supervision, and tools to manage counseling interns effectively and sustain programs with quality and compliance.
Strategic Internship Models
We advise organizations on addressing funding and staffing limitations by designing internship-based counseling programs that are financially sustainable and cost-efficient. This strategic model helps organizations expand services, maximize resources, and increase community impact.
Explore our services to learn HOW we implement these solutions
Meet
Dr. Justyn Smith
Founder
Ph.D., LPC-Supervisor
Dr. Justyn Smith is a licensed professional counselor supervisor, counselor educator, and consultant with over a decade of experience in counseling, clinical supervision, and higher education. His work across community health agencies, psychiatric hospitals, nonprofits, college counseling centers, and private practice has given him a deep, systems-level understanding of how mental health care is delivered in various settings in the community. He has taught graduate-level internship and practicum courses, served as a clinical site supervisor, and developed internship programs that prepare emerging counselors for meaningful work in the community. He specializes in helping organizations expand access to mental-health care by building sustainable, internship-based counseling programs that strengthen staff capacity, support student training, and expand affordable services.
As the founder of Smith Internship Consulting, Dr. Smith integrates clinical expertise, counselor development, and organizational strategy to help schools, nonprofits, and community health agencies meet growing mental-health needs. Grounded in both academic scholarship and real-world implementation, he bridges the worlds of counseling, education, and consulting to design scalable systems that develop future counselors, enhance service delivery, and empower organizations to create lasting community impact.
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education & Supervision
Sam Houston State University
Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Wright State University
Bachelor of Art in Psychology
Wright State University