Brianna Humes completed a remote Introduction to Counseling Skills internship, with Intern Abroad HQ.

Brianna is passionate about psychology and aspires to become a licensed mental health therapist. By gaining experience and knowledge through an internship opportunity, Brianna was motivated to become better prepared to serve people who are facing hardships. Learn more on how Brianna managed to balance her remote internship schedule around her studies and family priorities.

Hi Brianna! Can you please tell us more about your role as a remote intern?

In my remote internship with my host organization, I observed counseling sessions, researched topics that I had observed in sessions, and engaged with my supervisor following my written reports of sessions. With my observations and reports, I was able to bring new perspectives to each case.

This Introduction to Counseling Skills role demonstrated what I hope to do when I become a licensed counselor. It gave me exposure to the world of counseling and all of the types of counseling out there, as well as practical experience that is needed for me to thrive as a professional counselor.

I was able to channel my empathic listening skills and definitely evolve my short report writing skills. These are skills that are essential when entering the field of mental / behavioral health counseling.

How an Introduction to Counseling Skills internship provided practical experience

Can you tell us more about the guidance you received from your supervisor, through this “Introduction to Counseling Skills”?

What I recognized is how kind my supervisors were. In the past, I feel like my ‘bosses’ haven’t been as welcoming and kind. I felt that the supervisors in my host organization were so genuinely nice and that level of support and assistance can be hard to access at times.

In my introductory call, we spoke about travels and how interns from all over the globe come to the host organization to gain experience. I value diversity, inclusivity, and equality in the workplace. These values are very important to me and something I would question a potential employer about in the interviewing process. I don’t want to be part of an organization that doesn’t have their own proof, both in language and numbers, of their own cultural competence and inclusivity. However, this host organization was very inclusive, supporting everyone and their goals.

Overall, I really enjoyed talking with my supervisor and learning so much from her. I found her to be very inspiring and my experience interning with her for such a short period of time has really helped to guide me in the right direction as I plan my career path ahead in the future.

How an Introduction to Counseling Skills internship provided practical experience

Were there any challenges that you needed to overcome during the internship?

Initially, I feared that I would struggle going into my role, especially being that I am a first year Psychology student. However, I found that I did much better than I had anticipated. If I had to give anyone advice when entering this role (or one similar), I would encourage them not to doubt themselves. An internship is all about learning and growing and I find that I received that full experience!

I did struggle a bit with the time difference, since IST is quite different from EST. This required some time management adaptation, which was a well needed learning curve. I had to juggle and manage my internship, studies and family responsibilities. However, it was very rewarding in the end when I managed to achieve this!

Given the virtual format of the internship, I also needed to reserve some more time to observe and transcribe the sessions, which assisted me to understand that I was properly understanding all of the content. Reading the reports in the Whatsapp chat was interesting - I’d never paid much mind to career counseling so it was intriguing to see how it works. It definitely makes me wish I had that option when I was younger!

How an Introduction to Counseling Skills internship provided practical experience

What were the best highlights of this experience?

I feel more empowered simply because I feel like I’ve finally garnered some practical experience in the field of work I am aspiring towards.

I think the most significant thing I’ve learned about is the versatility of counseling. Counseling can look like career counseling, alternative therapies, and general talk therapy. This has inspired me to look deeper into all of the avenues I can take in the future once I become a licensed professional in the field.

I actually really hope to return to my host organization for another internship in the near future! I enjoyed my time so much that I would like even more experience and more time interning with my supervisor. The overall exposure to counseling I received in just 5 weeks has been so impactful and a huge learning moment for me.

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