Internship in Psychology (formerly called “practicum in psychology”) is a great course that should be taken by all students who are interested in careers in applied psychology (e.g., counseling, clinical psychology, etc.).
To sign up, note that this course includes an interview process – the nature of the process is outlined in materials disseminated by the Psychology Department during pre-registration (such as the Advising Newsletter) – but if the process is not clear at any point, please contact Jane Lehman (lehmanj@newpaltz.edu) , the Department secretary, for that information.
Currently, the primary instructor the course is Rebecca Martin (rebeccajzucker@gmail.com) who can also provide information on this process.
For the course, you’ll need to find a “placement” – an organization that includes work in the field of applied psychology / counseling. We have affiliations with many such organizations in the Valley, and the instructor of this course will be happy to work with students to help set up placements.
In some conditions, a student may want to work for an organization that is not currently “affiliated” with our department. This is not usually too much of a problem – as long as the institution is a genuine professional institution (e.g., a school district or county mental health organization, etc.) and you forward the information needed (see below) at least two weeks before the start of the semester (and ideally you should start this process two months prior to semester’s start). You can contact the internship instructor to find out if a particular organization is not affiliated with us. If you would like to work with such an organization for your placement, here’s the deal (note that this is the standard process for students taking PSY 497):
If the organization you are hoping to work with (a) has a clearly credentialed supervisor and (b) has its own insurance that covers interns, we may be able to support your working with that organization without creating an affiliation agreement. In such a case, you’d need to bring written evidence of these points (supervisor credentials and relevant insurance) to the office hours of Glenn Geher (posted at glenngeher.com; or, if not feasible, via email – geherg@newpaltz.edu) to discuss.
Information regarding “supervisor credentials” should include a written (ideally bullet-pointed) note (ideally by email) indicating:
* Name of supervisor
* Statement that the potential supervisor is in agreement of the internship arrangement
* Educational background of the potential supervisor (including the highest relevant degree obtained and the university the degree is from)
* Any licensure-related information regarding the supervisor
* Website for supervisor and/or site
Evidence of insurance that provides coverage for on-site interns can include the appropriate section of a relevant and current insurance policy (sent ideally as a .pdf via email) and/or a written statement attesting to such coverage by an official administrator of the organization that is willing to sponsor the internship.
Once you get Glenn’s written approval via this route, you should be good to go to work at that site with our authorization.
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If for some reason the Department determines that it would be best to form an official Affiliation Agreement between the organization and the Department, steps on this process (initiated by the Department chair) will be followed as such. Note that the following is the FORMAL AFFILIATION PROCESS and is not usually needed for students taking PSY 497.
1. Email a link to the website for the organization to the Psychology Department chair (Glenn Geher; geherg@newpaltz.edu) – in this email, indicate that you are interested in taking the internship course and would like to work at suchandsuch a place for your placement. Importantly, you also need to provide information on who the direct site supervisor would be and what credentials and position that person holds. If it seems appropriate, Dr. Geher will email you back indicating so, approving it. Once you have that email in hand, collect it, as you’ll need it for a next step.
2. Obtain a copy of the syllabus for the course (PSY 497) – this can be obtained either by the instructor or from Jane Lehman (lehmanj@newpaltz.edu). A recent version of the syllabus is fine (it need not be the version for an upcoming semester).
3. Communicate with Jane (lehmanj@newpaltz.edu) about coordinating the syllabus and information on the organization through the appropriate university channels.
Let us know if you have any questions!