Introduction to Counseling Skills

The practicality of my internship helped me distinguish the difference between learning and the actual application of learning. I had the privilege of attending a couple of live counselling sessions and observing how counsellor and client interact. I learnt to balance listening skills, observation and interaction to interpret and assess client behaviour. It challenged my time management skills and I am very grateful for the guidance and support I was given. I appreciate the skills learned and I will definitely apply them in counselling; specifically marriage and family therapy in future.

The remote Introduction to Counseling Skills internship has empowered me with more experience and confidence to pursue this field. I learnt a lot from practice and new experiences, along with useful tips from my supervisor. As an online intern, I tuned in to sessions, took reports on social issues, NGOs and psychology, and sat in on counseling sessions with my supervisor. I learned significant tips on counseling plus tactics and methods you could use to help the disadvantaged. My favorite memory was getting to see real life success stories from our help and our supervisors to showcase the effectiveness and impact of our methods. The internship has been quite even-paced and other interns have guided me and helped me to fit in. I hope to take on more volunteer opportunities in my community, helping for charities and taking classes in psychology and therapy. I want to be able to help and support the disadvantaged and make an impact. I'm hoping to pursue a career as a doctor so getting experience in psychology, counseling, writing reports, being able to listen to clients, and as well as being able to help, all would help me thrive in certain skill sets needed for the job.

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! This internship 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 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. 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.