Undergrad clinical/counseling volunteer opportunities?

[SaintPreux]

Hey everyone,

I have year worth of I/O related research under my belt (no publications or anything), but I find myself more interested in counseling psychology than anything else.

What types of volunteer experiences do counseling (or clinical) programs like to see? Anything clinical or counseling related?

I've heard of people volunteering on suicide hotlines, and that is something that I think would a valuable experience (on a personal level, if nothing else), but I don't think my state (Ga) has one...at least not one that I'm aware of.

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[lookitssara]

Friends of mine have volunteered at residential treatment centers for adolescents (behavioral as well as substance use issues), psych wards on hospitals, battered women's shelters, and those outdoorsy programs for "problem children".

From everything I've read however, most doc programs in psychology would prefer more research than experience (although experience can help you determine your research interests and/or if you love the field).

 

[nycegurl]

I'm about to start a counseling psych phd program in Sept. Some people I know became residential counselors working with people with disabilities or mental health issues. Basically teaching them independent living skills. Personally, I was able to be a peer mental health educator at my university (conducting workshops about depression, suicide etc...). I've seen these types of programs that aren't necessarily affiliated with a university like a community educator. I don't know about your area though. And like lookitssara said, research experience is highly important!

 

[futureapppsy2]

Common examples include crisis hotlines; residential homes for children in crisis, people with mental illness, or people with developmental disabilities; parenting or childcare agencies; and therapeutic preschools; peer or youth (often high-risk youth) mentoring/outreach. IMO, good experience can often be found in co-facilitating groups--for example, I co-facilitated groups for undergraduates referred for substance misuse I found it be valuable, pretty "clinical" (for an undergrad, anyway) clinical experience and a friend co-facilitated groups for survivors of sexual abuse.

I agree that research experience is much more important than clinical experience for PhD programs, but it does help to have some clinical experience, especially for balanced PhD and PsyD programs, and having good child clinical experience is a plus for School Psych PhD programs, especially if one lacks child research experience.

 

[azndragon02]

yea, I think internships and exp would be very useful especially if you are unsure what path you want to take in life. I got a bunch of different job careers that I am thinking about. I should probably talk to a career counselor and see if counseling is really for me. Anyone work as a psych tech? I want to see what psych techs do in person

 

[mtldreamer]

I volunteered at a Psychiatric Hospital for a year, as a companion to two women suffering with Schizophrenia. I would highly recommend looking into this option if you are planning to go into the clinical side of Psychology. It gave me a terrific reference, and I found the doctors and staff very open to sharing insights and advice. It can also help give you ideas about areas of research that might interest you in future, and connect you with the professionals conducting that research in the field.

 

[zoelee]

I volunteered at a Psychiatric Hospital for a year, as a companion to two women suffering with Schizophrenia. I would highly recommend looking into this option if you are planning to go into the clinical side of Psychology. It gave me a terrific reference, and I found the doctors and staff very open to sharing insights and advice. It can also help give you ideas about areas of research that might interest you in future, and connect you with the professionals conducting that research in the field.

Hi mtldreamer, I came across your post, and would like to ask, what type of qualifications were needed for you to volunteer at the psychiatric hospital? Which city is that hospital in?