An effort is made to accommodate students’ desires to observe and work with populations or in settings of their choosing, e.g., with children, the elderly, domestic violence issues, inpatient or outpatient treatment settings, etc.  There are occasions where students will design their own internship entirely, e.g., during the summer in their hometown.

Recent Internship placements for Psychology majors:

• Early Intervention Program, North Adams:  A multidisciplinary program allowing students the opportunity to observe and participate in assessment and treatment of children birth to three who are at risk for developmental delays.  Students have an opportunity to observe psychological assessments, work with occupational therapist, physical therapist, developmental educator and can design group activities for children and co-lead groups.

• Elizabeth Freeman Center, Inc.:  Pittsfield and North Adams:  This agency offers a wide variety of placements from working with battered women in a shelter to working with at-risk elementary and high school students in groups to assisting with program evaluation and statistical analyses to providing referrals and information to women.  All students who work directly with consumers are given training (lasting up to 3 weeks) before beginning.

• Deerfield Valley Elementary School, Wilmington, VT:  Student was supervised by several staff, including the Special Needs Coordinator.  Student observed two supervisors working with children, sat in on parent-team meetings, visited classrooms and observed children in different settings, provided written observations of children’s behavior, trained on several reading assessment tools, and worked one on one with several special needs students under supervision of the Coordinator.

• Greylock Pavilion, North Adams Regional Hospital, North Adams:  This site, an inpatient psychiatric unit, offers students the opportunity to see firsthand the various psychological disorders described in Abnormal Psychology in an inpatient community setting.  Students are able to sit in on intake assessments and therapy sessions when possible, observe inpatients in the “community meetings”, learn about the structure and philosophy of hospital psychiatric settings, and attend and participate in the multidisciplinary team meetings for each patient. 

• Brien Center, North Adams:  This site is a community mental health center with a wide range of opportunities for our students.  A frequent placement for our students is the South Forty Program, an after-school program for two age-groups of children, latency and older, who are usually referred or mandated for services.  The intern is able to observe and directly participate in group activities and provide individual support when possible.  Additionally, interns are able to shadow clinicians and attend staff meetings.  

• United Counseling Services, Bennington and Manchester, VT:  Like the Brien Center in North Adams, this agency offers various trainings and placements for our students.  Our most recent intern there shadowed a social worker who consults to a preschool regarding social and emotional issue and was able to design and implement a strategy for a set of siblings who were disruptive and oppositional.

• Other sites include Drury High School, Key Program in Pittsfield, Berkshire Farm, Conte Middle School, Tapestry Women’s Health Project, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, Adams Youth Center, Louison House, Bennington School, Juvenile Court, BFAIR, etc.