Psychology Internships in Athens
Sharpen your Psychology skills by collaborating alongside a non-profit NGO in Athens, Greece. As a Psychology intern in Athens, you’ll shadow experienced professionals as they provide an array of psychosocial support and counseling services to the wider community, combating a wide range of mental health challenges. Come prepared to develop your diverse Psychology experience, including skills related to cultural intelligence, communication, listening and analysis.
Internship Highlights:
- Collaborate with a highly-skilled team within the psychology and community health field.
- Experience mental health treatment and initiatives within a European country.
- Experience the popular attractions and lifestyle in Athens and wider Greece.
Type of host organizations:
- Community Youth Center
Internship details
Sharpen your Psychology skill by collaborating alongside a non-profit NGO in Athens, Greece. As a Psychology intern in Athens, you’ll collaborate with and shadow professionals from diverse backgrounds. The team operate a youth center, targeted at teens and young adults, to provide a range of psychosocial support and counseling services. At their heart, all activities are focused on helping others to implement positive mental health and balanced lifestyles.
This is an in-country internship, with accommodation provided. You can explore remote Psychology & Social Work internships, if you are looking for an internship program that you can undertake from home.
Founded in 2005, this community focused NGO aims to combat the social exclusion of vulnerable groups, create equal opportunities for all people, and promote widespread positive mental health. To date, the total number of those who have benefited from this organization’s services exceeds 500,000+ people.
As a Psychology intern, you’ll assist in the development of patient relationships, research and implement need/treatment strategies, coordinate training sessions, and shadow supervisors across a range of initiatives aimed at helping all aspects of the community, including asylum seekers, the homeless, and victims of domestic violence.
While activities will vary depending on your level of experience, language skills, client permissions and the progression of different projects at the time of your participation, general tasks are related to observation and shadowing of treatments, coordination of educational activities and training, needs assessment and intervention planning, case study analysis, webinar organization, participation in cultural and educational actions in the community, and developing EU projects for funding.
Psychology interns should always come prepared to cooperate with full flexibility and sensitivity, especially while seeking to enhance their cultural intelligence and reflection on approaches that may differ. The inclusion of an intern in any treatment with a patient will always be subject to the clients agreement and relevant confidentiality requirements of the clinic.
Greek language proficiency is not a requirement to join, as Mentors and supervisors will speak English. Interactions or consultations with patients however may not be conducted in English, so interns should be prepared for the very natural and normal frustration of not always understanding what is being said around them. Come prepared and willing to surmount a language barrier (and ask for help when needed), as opposed to being intimidated by it. Should a language barrier arise during an observational occasion, your supervisor will be able to provide you with a debrief afterwards, concerning the relevant information.
In all cases, interns should expect that the first week of your experience will focus on settling in and gaining some introductory knowledge, as you will not “hit the ground running”. Rather, you should start with learning about the placement to gain an understanding of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.
Understand and expect that individual internship experiences vary, as the specific placement that you’re assigned will depend on review of your resume and your current level of studies and experience. Therefore, if you’re at a more introductory level, you should reasonably expect a more introductory internship. Likewise, if you’re interning for a shorter duration, you will have a different experience from someone who is interning for a longer duration. Placement preferences are considered but always subject to availability.
Typical Schedule
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Approximately Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.
Career Benefits
Psychology interns learn from a qualified and experienced supervisor, and can be involved in:
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Treatment observation.
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Coordination of educational activities and training.
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Needs evaluation and intervention.
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Organizing community cultural and educational action.
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Case study analysis.
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Accompanied home visits with local health workers.
Professional development opportunities:
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Understand patient and client relationship building.
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Gain understanding about treatment strategies.
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Develop communication skills within a professional working environment.
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Understand the day-to-day duties of practicing psychologists and community health workers.
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Build report writing skills based on your observations of therapy sessions.
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Gain practical skills and boost your employability, with guidance from Intern Abroad HQ’s Experiential Learning Curriculum to support your learning and cultural intelligence.
Greece photo gallery
What recent interns said about their experience
During my internship in Greece, I was a psychology intern at a day center. At the day center, I was in charge of creating and leading group activities and got to observe and record patient behavior. I chose this program because I love to travel and wanted to increase my knowledge of other cultures. My experience has not only taught me the value of being immersed in different cultures, but it has taught me more about the concepts of psychology and how to apply what I have learned in my university classes to real-life situations. I gained a ton of experience in the psychology field and found out that this is truly the career path I love, am good at, and want to follow.
Having lived in the United States my entire life and completed my undergraduate degree there as well, one of my favourite parts of this internship was getting to learn about psychology and mental health care through a different cultural lens. While I went into my placement with an open mind, I was surprised by just how many new perspectives I gained on topics I had always assumed were straightforward. Working alongside other international interns and learning about their own unique backgrounds and knowledge of psychology only added to this experience even more. Working directly with patients and getting to build a rapport with them in the four weeks I was in Greece really strengthened my confidence to transition from academia into work that is more hands-on and personal as I continue to pursue a career in clinical psychology.
Having completed my internship, I feel more empowered knowing I can meet new people and engage in new scenarios. Initially I thought I would be doing more shadowing, whereas in reality I had a much more practical and interactive role. The main skill that I will carry over into my future career is being able to engage with individuals no matter our differences, and despite challenges such as language, culture and different perspectives or opinions. I aim to pursue a career in the psychological domain, hence I feel this skill will be especially beneficial but it is also applicable to a plethora of other domains of career or life.
I enjoyed learning about the culture and placing myself in an environment where I am constantly growing.
I've always wanted to travel the world and I saw this internship opportunity as a way to start this process. I took a chance and decided to just go for it! In Greece the Psychology internship work focused on one-on-one sessions with clients. This allowed me to get some practical experience actually talking with clients and diagnosing different psychological conditions. This was all new to me as I had only seen these types of sessions on TV or read about them in textbooks. I shadowed psychologists, social workers and facilitated sessions for the clients. Seeing the different modes of treatment, how different healthcare systems work, how organizations make use of these systems, the resources available to them and how the community interacts with these taught me so much. I aspire to become a clinical psychologist, so this experience has really allowed me to enrich my perspective on how I would position myself better and help my future clients. My supervisor at my placement in Greece was amazing. She really helped me overcome any language barriers, showed me how their organization operates, how to do the sessions and assessments. She would give me scheduling sheets to manage my time, instructions on how sessions were to be run and what they would look like. My internship really left a lasting impression on me, how I see the world and how I am in the world.
To read all reviews, visit our reviews page.
Academic credit available for all internships
Gain course credit from your college or university and meet your academic requirements when completing an internship abroad or remote internship program with Intern Abroad HQ.
Learn about course creditProgram fees
It’s free to apply for this internship. Once we have reviewed your suitability and accepted you onto this program, you’ll need to pay a deposit of US$499 to confirm your place. The remaining balance of your Program Fee (less your initial US$499 deposit payment) will be due no less than 60 days before your internship start date.
Duration |
Program Fee (USD) |
|---|---|
| 2 weeks | $2,229 Equivalent to $159 /day |
| 3 weeks | $2,699 Equivalent to $128 /day |
| 4 weeks | $3,219 Equivalent to $114 /day |
| 5 weeks | $3,689 Equivalent to $105 /day |
| 6 weeks | $4,174 Equivalent to $99 /day |
| 8 weeks | $5,034 Equivalent to $89 /day |
| 10 weeks | $5,869 Equivalent to $83 /day |
| 12 weeks | $6,649 Equivalent to $79 /day |
- Airport pick-up
- Accommodation
- 24/7 in-country support
- Program orientation
- Dedicated support before, during, and after your internship
- In-country guidance for social and tourist activities
- Sourcing and securing your internship placement
- Personalization of your internship plan
- Coaching from your supervisor
- Documented portfolio of your experiential learnings
- Academic credit facilitation
- International reference letter
- Certificate of Internship Completion
- All meals
- All in-country transportation
- Visa (if required), flights, travel insurance (mandatory), vaccinations, criminal background check
- Transfer back to the airport at the end of your internship program
- Personal spending money for snacks, drinks, public transport, laundry, and leisure activities during your free time.
- A deposit of $499 (approximately 499) is required to secure your internship
- Balance of your Program Fee is due 60 days before your internship start date.
- All payments attract a 5% transaction fee to cover international banking fees and currency charges.
- Terms and Conditions apply.
Arrival and Orientation
Internships in Athens begin every Monday. Exceptions may be made to this when start dates are shifted to avoid public holiday disruptions or closed when the program has already reached capacity. Note that there are typically less placements available during August, due to the summer vacation period in Greece. Interns may choose to spend a minimum of 2 weeks, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
Airport pick up and accommodation are included in the Program Fee. The accommodation is covered from the Sunday night before the Monday start date - interns are required to arrive no later than the Sunday before their Monday start date, as all orientations are held on Mondays. Upon arrival, interns will be met, greeted, and transferred to the accommodation. Accommodation is covered from the Sunday night before the Monday start date.
The typical port of entry is the Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, the largest international airport in Greece (ATH). In order to receive the airport pick up service which is included in the Program Fee, interns are required to arrive on the Sunday before their Monday start date, between 9am and 6pm. An extra charge applies to any airport pickups outside this timeframe. If you are planning to spend time independently in Greece prior to your internship and will not require an international airport pick up, we can discuss alternative arrival logistics with you.
The last night of the accommodation is the Friday night of the final week, leaving interns free to depart on Saturday. Extra nights of accommodation can be arranged in advance, if requested, and are subject to availability.
Orientation covers important details for your internship, including introductions, information about culture, customs, rules, expectations, safety, language lessons, cultural excursions, and more. Your specific internship placement orientation will follow the general orientation, as you’ll be shown how to travel to and from your internship and be introduced to the team you’ll be joining.
Please note that all participants are advised not to book flights until they have first registered to confirm their internship placement.
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Accommodation and WiFi
Interns are accommodated in clean and comfortable, fully furnished apartments or selected hotel / hostel rooms. Bedding and furnishings are provided, as well as common areas such as lounge, kitchen and laundry facilities. Standard amenities include whiteware (i.e. washing machine, stovetop, fridge, microwave) and clean linen (i.e. bed sheets, pillows, towels). Accommodation includes 24Mbps internet / WiFi access.
In most cases, between two to six guests can be accommodated per apartment so interns should be prepared to share living arrangements. Each guest will have a single or double bed. Rooming arrangements are same-sex, unless specific requests are made to share mixed-gender accommodation. For private accommodation, alternative living arrangements can be requested and arranged in advance, for an additional “upgrade” fee.
Upon the confirmation of specific internship details for each participant, accommodation arrangements are made, taking into consideration the location of internship placements, to ensure that any commute time is as convenient as possible.
Due to the layout of the city’s urban and residential areas, it is normal to expect an approximate commute (to / from an internship placement) of around 30 minutes. Interns should budget approximately 30 Euro per month for transportation (about US$35). The Athens Metro system makes it easy to get around the city and explore. All accommodation for the internship programs is located close to public transportation and large shopping areas.
Please note that the accommodation pictured in the photo gallery of this webpage is provided as an example. Since we work with more than one apartment, the exact accommodation that you’re assigned may differ from the photos. However, you can expect a similar standard and similar amenities, to what is shown here.
Meals
Internships on this program do not include meals, as affordable supermarkets are easily accessible. Greece has a thriving coffee culture which is delightful to partake in (there is also WiFi in almost all coffee shops and restaurants). Try Ellinikos (a favorite style of coffee) along with Freddo Espresso / Cappucino and Frappe.
For eating out, interns may budget approximately 3 - 5 Euro for a light breakfast (about US$5 - 7) and 5 - 10 Euro for a simple lunch (about US$5 - 12). There are ample dining options ranging from budget to high end. Greek cuisine offers a range of incredible dishes to experience, including well known classics such as Moussaka and Souvlaki. The Mediterranean diet features meat (cow, chicken, lamb), pasta, rice, pulses, vegetables, and a variety of fish and seafood. When in doubt, skip straight to dessert and order Galaktoboureko (with ice cream)!
Activities and tourism
During the internship program, weekends are available for free time and leisure activities. There is no shortage of wonderful things to see and do! Local coordinators can assist with the booking of safe and reliable activities at discounted prices, so be sure to ask them for advice about how to make the best arrangements to maximise your time and budget (you can do so once registered for your internship or during the orientation). Note that some excursions require a minimum participation of between two or four other people, so it’s wise to enquire in advance.
Bear in mind that Greek Viticulture & Agriculture interns will be based in the region of Chania, in Crete, Greece. The locations for Viticulture & Agriculture internship placements are rural and not touristy. Medical internships in Greece are based in Athens.
Whether you want to explore the endless beaches, cruise around the Greek islands, or visit cultural and historical attractions, there is something for everyone. Popular highlights that you won’t want to miss include:
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Acropolis of Athens: The most famous feature of this ancient citadel is the beautiful Parthenon but the site also includes other impressive structures. Situated high above the sprawling city and visible from many points, the Acropolis is an icon of Athens. The touristic areas of Plaka and Monastiraki are located within the surrounding foothills. Go walking through the alleys to lose yourself among the stores, taverns, flea markets, and cafes. Check out the Acropolis Museum, located on the road which leads up toward the Parthenon. Conveniently, there is a metro station (“Akropoli metro station”) directly across from the Museum, making this attraction as easy site to visit from other places within Athens city.
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Full-day island cruise: A trip to Greece isn’t complete without getting out on the water. Spend a full day doing just that and visit the islands of Aegina, Hydra and Poros. Each offers the opportunity to explore, swim, shop and relax. The island cruise includes onboard dining (a rich buffet lunch) and entertainment. Be sure to pace yourself and bring your friends!
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Full-day excursion to Isthmus, The Great Theatre of Epidaurus, Mycenae and Nafplio: Walk across the Corinthian Isthmus, visit the largest Ancient Greek theatre and the Asclepius Medicine sanctuary. See Mycenae where the Trojan War started and relax and swim at Nafplio.
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Full-day excursion to Delphi and Galaxidi: Delphi is known as home to the oracle of Apollo, where predictions and guidance were sought from city-states and individuals alike. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s museum also hosts a rich collection of ancient artifacts. Part of the municipality Delphi, Galaxidi is a beautiful town famous for its gorgeous seafront (bring your swimsuit), fresh seafood, traditional architecture and more.
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Half-day excursion to Poseidon’s Temple and swimming at Sounio: This afternoon excursion only takes about half a day, so it’s a great weekend activity to combine with a relaxed morning. Poseidon’s Temple is located south of Athens, at Cape Sounio. Here, the remaining pillars of the temple still overlook gorgeous ocean and sunset views, where the sandy beach below is perfect for swimming.
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Full-day excursion to Meteora Monasteries: This full day excursion takes you to see the Meteora Monasteries, which are infamous for being precipitously built and “suspended in the air” (as meant by “Meteora”) atop immense natural rock pillars. The journey from Athens takes about four hours. Once there, you can walk up and explore the three monasteries of Great Meteoro, Varlaam and Holy Trinity. Marvel at the effort, dedication and faith required to undertake such a challenging feat of engineering, architecture and passion. After lunch, the excursion returns to Athens.
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Full-day excursion to Vouraikos Gorge, Cave Lakes and Kalavryta: Take a scenic train journey through the Vouraikos Gorge and onto the beautiful Cave Lakes, a unique underground cave system that contains fourteen lakes across three different levels. Carry onto the picturesque town of Kalavryta, a popular winter destination (due to the nearby ski center). Kalavryta offers historical attractions such as the Monastery of Mega Spileo, Monastery of Agia Lavra, and the Municipal Museum of the Holocaust of Kalavryta.
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Half-day Trekking at Mount Parnitha National Park: Located just an hour out of the city center, the park’s proximity to Athens is idea for an escape into nature (and retreat from the summer heat). The departure time is late morning and returns in the early evening. The two-hour trek is relaxed but still offers great views (keep your eyes open to spot red deer as well). The trek is followed by a break at Mpafi Refuge, where you can have a coffee and lunch. Return via a cable-car ride that transports you back to the foothills of Mount Parnitha.
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Full-day Forest Horse Ride and Cycling excursion: After all the cultural and historical sightseeing that Greece has to offer, getting active and soaking up its nature is a must. This excursion includes horseback riding and cycling through the dense forests surrounding Mount Parnonas National Park. The trails provide beautiful views of the surrounding landscapes, as well as water springs and waterfalls along the Evrotas River.
Essential country information
| Capital | Athens |
| Population | 10.75 million |
| Languages | Greek |
| Currency | Euro (€ - EUR) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 |
Weather and climate:
With its Mediterranean climate, Athens is one of the warmest capital cities in Europe. The summers are long, hot and dry and the winters are mild. The best time to visit Athens for the hot weather is from mid June to mid September. The hottest month is July, in which the temperature may peak around 92°F / 33°C. Heatwaves in Greece may occur but they are usually not prolonged (that coast moderates temperatures with coastal breezes). The cooler months are November through March. During this period, it rarely gets any colder than 42°F / 5°C in Athens (February is the coldest month). Rainfall in Greece varies throughout the year, although the summer months are drier in comparison. December is usually the wettest month of the year. Outside of Athens, the climate of Greece remains primarily Mediterranean. However, due to its mountainous regions, there is a range of microclimates and local variations. Snow regularly falls in the high mountains. Medical internships in Greece are based in Athens. Greek Viticulture & Agriculture interns will be based in the region of Chania, in Crete.
