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Psychology Department

Internship Policy

The psychology senior internship is part of a required four credit course, Psy493: Psychology Internship and Seminar and different from another opportunity for internships under the Psy491 course, Internship in Psychology. This senior internship is a learning/practicing experience in which the psychology major applies psychological knowledge and skills in a structured non-classroom setting. It can take place in many settings: governmental agencies, social service agencies, schools, mental health agencies, businesses, research labs, churches, etc.

Objectives: In addition to providing helpful experiences for career planning and preparation for employment or graduate school, an acceptable internship is one which expects the student to:

  1. Engage in a supervised, structured experience in which they apply and integrate psychological knowledge and skills;
  2. Develop empathy with and understanding of persons, groups, and settings typically not encountered on campus;
  3. Grow in one's personal maturity and confidence in one's abilities.

Prerequisites: The student must:

  1. be a senior holding a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA and a 2.25 GPA in the psychology major
  2. have completed Introduction to Psychology and Statistics
  3. exhibit the necessary motivation and intent to follow through with the internship demands.

Requirements: The following are specific requirements for the internship:

  1. In addition to meeting with the faculty instructor in the Psy493 class, the student needs to have regular meetings with an appropriate on-site supervisor.
  2. The internship needs to be approved by the Psy493 instructor.
  3. A "Contract for Psychology Department Internship" is expected to be completed, including all approvals, by the fifth day of classes of the semester in which the internship is to take place. Students must submit a completed and signed contract to the Psy493 instructor no later than the fifth day of the internship. It is preferable to have these forms completed before the end of the semester preceding the internship.
  4. The student needs to spend a minimum of 135 hours at the internship site during the semester Psy493 is taken.
  5. The student must satisfactorily meet the requirements of the Psy493 course.

Planning: The internship should be arranged prior to the beginning of the semester Psy493 is taken. While the psychology department offers some resources to help students in their internship search, students are responsible for finding an appropriate internship. Necessary forms and some resources are available through the Psy 493 instructor, the Psychology Department Coordinator and our Psychology Department Internship web site at: http://cas.bethel.edu/dept/psychology/index.html

Evaluation/Grading: The course will be graded S/U with S meaning a grade of B or better in the course. The course syllabus will contain specific requirements for both the internship site and classroom components of PSY 493.