Developmental Psychology

This has been my second internship with Intern Abroad HQ and I am so glad that I was able to pursue this experience. This internship opened my perspective and prior knowledge about different cultures. I really enjoyed being able to apply my knowledge of psychology to the real world and to see how important this career path is globally.

I loved going to my remote internship sessions everyday! Especially during Covid-19, with the lack of personal interactions. This internship was not just about gaining knowledge but also a way to connect with people who had a common goal of being more empathic, learning to care for and provide help for others. Everyone was so nice and we got to hear experiences from so many workers who have spent decades in their field. I'm personally very grateful for my supervisor as she was such a good mentor for me. She guided me through this internship and looked out for me. I am trying to figure out where I want to go in terms of my career and future, so her guidance was a big strength. I felt really empowered to hear the experiences of the professional guest speakers and about their own life journey to get to where they are today. The more I heard, the more motivated I felt in wanting to continue my career path. For this internship, I recommend being organised and writing a list of goals. It is amazing to look back at the end of your internship to see how much you have learnt and achieved. Building a strong connection with your supervisor will make the internship experience a lot more fulfilling. If there is something that you personally wish to learn or get out of the internship, ask your supervisor, as they will love to share knowledge. I hope you all enjoy your internship experiences as well, and get as much out of it as I have!

My internship experience has been invaluable in broadening my experience of clinical psychology. In the first couple of weeks, I had already come across some very interesting topics for research, observed several thought-provoking sessions with clients and developed my knowledge of the cultural differences between India and the UK. My tasks have involved everything from shadowing career counselling sessions, observing mock therapy sessions, researching, and writing reports on psychological assessment methods and treatments, and attending seminars with the owner of the center. All of these skills will be incredibly valuable when applying for clinical psychology doctorate programs in a few years. Some of the topics on ADHD and learning difficulties can also be related to my current part-time job as a living and learning assistant. It is my hope that by gaining a greater understanding of these issues I will be able to provide better care for the young people I work with. I feel more empowered in my field now because I have seen for myself the positive effects that therapy can have. The testimonials from the parents of children that we worked with were incredibly inspiring and made me realize how important and life-changing work like this can be.

This current internship has contributed to my own long-term goals as I am gaining experience interning in a psychology-related area. My favorite memory was the cultural orientation. During this orientation, one of my supervisors informed me about Indian culture. Not only did I personally find Indian culture to be intriguing, but also this orientation was helpful during my internship. I feel more empowered in my field because I have gained experience applying psychology concepts that I have learned to the real world.

My internship experience has been really interesting. The counselling sessions were less daunting than I originally thought they would be and were more like conversations with new people, which put my mind at ease. The most memorable part was getting to know the children I worked with. I did not expect them to share so much with me, after having only just met. It was humbling to see how they trusted me enough to share and were brave enough to ask for advice. During my internship I was tasked with developing case histories for children living in a home, which really helped me gain experience talking to children about sensitive issues. I also designed workshops and lesson plans for the children to engage in. This helped me get to know the children better by designing activities suited to their interests. Lastly, I provided recommendations to improve the environment of the children. When they had issues, they would confide in me, and I would give advice to resolve the issue and make recommendations to the home regarding general issues going on. I wish to become a psychological researcher in the future and gaining experience interacting with children will prove incredibly useful for when I conduct research with participants in the future. Learning about the working conditions in a culture very different from my own, developing more sensitivity, looking for effective approaches when talking with children about sensitive topics, and conducting research for writing proposals has left me feeling more empowered. By gaining work experience on a variety of tasks in an NGO, I feel I am a more well-rounded candidate for future positions. From here, my goals are to look for more opportunities working with children affected by difficult circumstances and use what I have learned from this internship to advise and support them.