Internship at SafeNest

I did my internship at the SafeNest domestic violence shelter as a front desk advocate. My job was to assist the clients at the shelter by buzzing them in the gate, answering phone calls or questions regarding activities going on, handing out hygiene products, mediating disputes, and many other things. One of the biggest aspects of my internship was just talking to the clients at the shelter. A lot of the ladies at the shelter would sometimes disclose the abuse that they suffered through, or discuss other sensitive topics with me; therefore, one of the most important skills to have at this internship is to be able to have an empathetic and nurturing conversation. Due to this, one of the most important classes I took that helped me be prepared for this internship was the Basic Principles of Psychotherapy. In this class, we practiced counseling methods by giving/receiving therapy with a peer in the class. Although this class brought me out of my comfort zone, it prepared me by giving me experience on how to respond and properly assess moments of distress in a therapeutic manner.

I believe that this internship will benefit my future career as a Psychologist because it’s given me insight on social problems within my community that have a direct impact on mental health. As mentioned before, this internship also gave me experience in having difficult conversations surrounding mental health and other sensitive topics. As a Psychology major, all of these factors are also very connected as many of the topics I’ve learned about in courses came up at my internship, like skills surrounding conflict management, effects of trauma, mental disorders, and many more. This in turn, not only allowed me to utilize what I’ve learned about Psychology at my internship, but also has allowed me to learn new things as well, like new intervention methods for assisting clients and leadership skills.

Overall, I feel as though I would love to pursue a career surrounding Psychology at a nonprofit organization like SafeNest because everyday I went home feeling as though I was able to do something positive for others around me.

(Since the shelter does not allow photography I sourced this photo from google of the 'Pet House' on property. I included this photo because pets were a big part of life at the shelter and seeing all the adorable animals always made my day.)