Psychology Internship & Practicum
What Internships are Available?
Our psychology program offers two types of supervised field courses: PSYC 494 (Internship in Psychology) and ADS/PSYC 495 (Practicum in Psychology). PSYC 494 is a general psychology internship and ADS/PSYC 495 is a course where students will work with addictions specific professionals and programs.
Both, PSYC 494 and PSYC 495 consist of two portions, a physical class portion and a field portion.
What is the Class Portion of your Internship?
Students enrolled in either PSYC 494 or PSYC 495 will meet in class once a week to exchange information about the field experience, share their weekly reflections, go over case presentations, and cover psychological concepts and topics related to the field experience.
What is the Field Portion of your Internship?
The second part of the course is the supervised fieldwork portion. PSYC 494 and ADS/PSYC 495 students are responsible for securing their own field placement, and have to do so before you can register for the course. Some agencies conduct background checks and new hire trainings, and this takes extra time.
It is thus important to start applying to agencies at least two months before the start of the semester. For every credit hour registered, students are committing to working 45 field hours. For example, if students sign up for three credit hours of PSYC 494 or ADS/PSYC 495, they are committing to working 135 field hours that semester and are required to complete all hours within the term (there are no “incompletes”).
What is the Role of your Professor?
It is the role of your PSYC 494 and ADS/PSYC 495 professor to guide you through the internship or practicum process. In addition to meeting in class, students will meet with their professors for individual supervision meetings throughout the semester. The professor will also schedule site visits and meet with the agency supervisors.
Please contact Dr. Leanne Parker for more information about PSYC 494 and ADS/PSYC 495 field placements.