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What is the Psychology Department Internship requirement?

Bethel University psychology majors have a psychology internship requirement they need to fulfill during their senior year. To fulfill this requirement, they need to work a minimum of 135 hours in an approved internship and pass an accompanying 4-credit course, PSY493: Psychology Internship and Seminar, which is taken concurrently with the internship.

How does the course, PSY493, relate to the internship?

The internship should be completed in conjunction with a seminar component (PSY493) in which students meet regularly for on-campus classes with their Bethel faculty instructor and student peers (during the summer term, an online and hybrid version of this course where students interact online or typically online rather than face-to-face). This seminar consists of class, small group meetings and online discussion forums where students will have opportunities to process their internship experiences and internship-related issues. The seminar component will also provide some opportunities to begin exploring various career options for psychology majors as well as focus more generally on self/career exploration and life transition issues.

What are the basic requirements for the internship?

The following are specific requirements for the internship:

  1. New experience. The internship experience must offer significantly new experience for the student. The internship is intended to be an opportunity to explore new areas, try new jobs, and work with new populations.
  2. Psychology-related. The internship should be psychology-related in terms of providing opportunities to develop and/or apply psychological knowledge and skills. A wide variety of internships could be considered “psychology-related”.
  3. Supervisor. The supervisor does not need any special licensure or title but should be experienced in the type of work the student will be doing at the internship. The supervisor needs to be willing to take the responsibility of overseeing the student’s internship at the internship site. Some more specific responsibilities for the supervisor include:
    • Meeting with the student on the average of 30 minutes per week (could be some other format such meeting for an hour every other week, etc.)
    • Being a liaison person for the internship site. If any special concerns arise during the internship, the supervisor and course instructor should be available to communicate, consult and collaborate if needed
    • Working with the intern to provide personally relevant learning experiences during the internship
    • Completing a short evaluation of the intern’s performance towards the end of the internship
  4. Sufficient hours provided. The site needs to be able to provide the student with 135 hours of work over the semester (about 14 weeks).
  5. Get instructor approval for your site. Ultimately, your internship needs to be approved of by your PSY493 instructor. When you find a site that you are seriously considering, you can email the instructor with a description of the site and what type of work you think you would be doing to get approval.

Planning for an Internship

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 this site, from the PSY493 instructor, or from the Psychology Department Coordinator. See the Preparation page for more information on this process and the Sites page for many contacts to get started in your search. You are encouraged to look beyond what is listed to find an internship that matches well with your interests.

Questions?

If you have further questions about the psychology internship process or need additional help, please contact either:

Dr. Jason Li, professor of psychology
j-li@bethel.edu | 651.638.6150

Rachel Young, psychology department coordinator
r-young@bethel.edu | 651.638.6295