Internship workload?

[futureapppsy2]

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Hi all,
For those of you that have been on internship, how exhausting/demanding is it?

One of our grad RAs went off to internship this year, though she's still helping us with a manuscript or two remotely. I had a good friend who went through internship two years ago (university counseling center) and found it to be *extremely* grueling (70 hour work weeks, and completely draining personally, but otherwise good experience), so I was surprised that our grad RA still had time to do anything but internship/dissertation. An acquintance also did an internship at a psych hospital, and from her brief comments seemed pretty drained as well, so I figured "grueling" was par for the course with regards to internship. However, my PI said that most people find internship to noticeably less demanding than the rest of grad school.

I'm curious to hear your experiences.

Thanks!

 

[Ollie123]

Not there yet, but from what I've heard there is no real answer - like grad schools there is WIDE variance across programs, and even within programs there can be variance by rotation. I know folks who rarely had to stay past normal working hours, and I know folks who are there late nearly every night, and carry a pager and are "on call" plenty of the time on top of that.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

In general I've found it to be manageable. I'm at a VA, so we work a set schedule (8:00-4:30pm), we are not supposed to stay late, and we cannot take anything home. The latest I have stayed has been 4:45pm, and that doesn't happen often. I often feel like I'd rather stay later and get things done, but I'm a bit of a workaholic. I have brought my neuropsych books home to read, but that is about it.

I don't have much downtime, but there is still time for lunch and to catch up with the other interns if we cross paths. Some rotations have more free time, but I usually use that to catch up on my reading, call people back, etc. My main issue is having to put everything into our electronic medical records system, as it can take some time to get everything right (connect the consult to the appt, tag the note right, making sure you have all of the appropriate co-signers, etc).

We have pagers because our rotations are spread over a number of buildings on campus, but we don't have to respond outside of business hours. I've talked to some of my classmates and their experiences seem to be pretty diverse. Some are cranking through clients, while others are more stop and go. One has a pager and they have to be "on call" on certain weekends.

 

[Cosmo75]

I was also at a VA, so the hours were around 40 per week. Some internships are 60-80.

With that being said, I was pretty exhausted most weeks. I think for me it was having an essentially 100% clinical job. It was mentally and emotionally draining, which I think led to the fatigue. I couldn't imagine adding another 20 hours onto my work week. So I'm glad I went to the VA.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

With that being said, I was pretty exhausted most weeks. I think for me it was having an essentially 100% clinical job. It was mentally and emotionally draining, which I think led to the fatigue. I couldn't imagine adding another 20 hours onto my work week. So I'm glad I went to the VA.

I look at some of my friends at counseling centers and wonder how they get through their weeks, as the vast majority of their day is spent in individual therapy. I prefer assessment and consultation, so doing 50-60 hours of assessment and consultation would feel like less work than 30+ hours of straight therapy.

 

[futureapppsy2]

I look at some of my friends at counseling centers and wonder how they get through their weeks, as the vast majority of their day is spent in individual therapy. I prefer assessment and consultation, so doing 50-60 hours of assessment and consultation would feel like less work than 30+ hours of straight therapy.

I think this probably contributed to my friend's fatigue--she's not really into assesment or research, so she probably sought out a therapy-heavy site, which was, well, therapy-*heavy.*

 

[psychmama]

I think this probably contributed to my friend's fatigue--she's not really into assesment or research, so she probably sought out a therapy-heavy site, which was, well, therapy-*heavy.*

So much depends on the match between the internship site and the individual's interests and temperament. My site (a state hospital) seems to have a fairly manageable workload contained within the hours of 8:30-5. On the other hand, the patients we deal with take a lot out of you emotionally. Sometimes I come home too tired to even think, and the emotions of the patients can "rub off" on me. Thankfully, we get a lot of supervision. I personally like therapy, so this is all good for me. I can see how it might be pretty draining for others though.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Sometimes I come home too tired to even think

This reminds me of something my friend said while on internship-- "even when I have free time I sometimes want to stare at the wall to debrief"

 

[psychmama]

This reminds me of something my friend said while on internship-- "even when I have free time I sometimes want to stare at the wall to debrief"

lol...been there, done that!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

This reminds me of something my friend said while on internship-- "even when I have free time I sometimes want to stare at the wall to debrief"

I did that one day. It was the 2nd week of rotations and I had a ROUGH group, and I didn't much want to talk, so instead I just relaxed in my office for a bit. The wall don't talk back, usually. 😀

 

[futureapppsy2]

I had a ROUGH group, and I didn't much want to talk

Last semester, I had a really rough group and had to go straight from facilitating that to a teaching class--it was a bit exhausting, but it worked out okay and I learned to love guest speakers. 🙂

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Last semester, I had a really rough group and had to go straight from facilitating that to a teaching class--it was a bit exhausting, but it worked out okay and I learned to love guest speakers. 🙂

Guest speakers can definitely be a nice change of pace/break. I'm more accustomed to being the guest speaker now, which is quite enjoyable. I'm not sure I want the grind of a 15 week class right now, but I'd love to jump in for a lecture or two.

 

[Cosmo75]

Guest speakers can definitely be a nice change of pace/break. I'm more accustomed to being the guest speaker now, which is quite enjoyable. I'm not sure I want the grind of a 15 week class right now, but I'd love to jump in for a lecture or two.

I debated continuing teaching during internship and was really glad I opted not to. Even to teach classes that I had previously would have been too draining. I preferred to go home and stare at the wall too 🙂