My daughter was a RA for a longitudinal study at a State Research Clinic, a RA for a multi-year study at a large, private research University, a clinical “intern” at a private practice. Naturally, you are not “practicing” – and no one suggested that, but you can fulfill intake and other work, e.g. creating case conceptualizations by reviewing screenings. Any research work would be under Postdocs or similar research coordinators!
All very common/normal prior to grad school.
Among her current cohorts were people having worked as behavioral “technicians”, some had pursued education careers, combining it with counseling. Some had volunteered as crisis counselors (e.g., Training Calendar),…
There are many ways how one can demonstrate commitment to the field and strengthen one’s application, if the initial “out of college” résumé didn’t suffice - in fact, I believe less than 20% of her cohorts had managed acceptance straight out of college.