Motiff and Roehling
come involved. It may be the case, however, that
the intern is not comfortable with independence
and may be asking for an inappropriate amount of
direction and attention from the internship supervisor. If this is the case, the faculty supervisor
needs to help the student function more independently and with more initiative at the internship.
One of the most serious and difficult problems
occurs when the internship site asks the student to
perform duties for which they are not adequately
trained, such as administering psychological tests
which they have not been trained to use, or
performing psychotherapy. This is unethical.
We have found this problem to have occurred
almost exclusively at small, privately owned psychotherapy clinics. For example, one student
working in a private psychological clinic was
asked to substitute in a family therapy session for
one of the therapists who had a conflicting appointment. At another setting, a student was
asked to administer one of the Wechsler Intelligence Tests after having only reviewed the manual
at home. In both of these situations, the clients
were charged for the services of a licensed psychologist. In situations like these, the faculty
supervisor must intervene very quickly to protect
both the student and the client. If an immediate
change in the behavior of the internship supervisor does not occur, the student should be removed
from the internship and be given an alternate
placement. It is because of experiences like these
that we no longer allow our students to work at
privately owned for-profit sites.
Final remarks
Hope College is committed to community service learning through internships. The course
entitled Psychology Internships is an approved
course in the curriculum. The faculty supervisor
receives three hours (25%) of teaching credit for
the internship course. We have found working
with the students and the agencies to be an enriching and enjoyable experience. Making connections between course work and practical applica
tion is challenging and exciting. Helping students see these connections reinforces the value
and relevance of coursework. In addition, the
internship helps a student explore their career
interests and develop skills and contacts that will
be useful when they graduate. Finally, the internship cultivates the students' commitment to make
a contribution to the community. Many students
have indicated that they have found the internship
experience and the internship class to be the most
important course in their college career.
Special thanks are extended to Dr. Les Beach for his
early foundational role in establishing internships in
the psychology department.
References
Brewer, C. L. (1993). Curriculum. In T. V. McGovern
(Ed.), Handbookfor enhancing undergraduate education in psychology (pp. 61-182). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Havern, V. W. (1993). Field placement study. Psychology Department, Le Moyne College, Syracuse,
NY.
Mathie, V. A. (1993). Promoting active learning in
psychology courses. In T. V. McGovern (Ed.),
Handbook for enhancing undergraduate education
in psychology (pp. 183-214). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
Authors
JAMES P. MOTIFF is Professor of Psychology at
Hope College in Holland, Michigan and is Chairperson of the department. His Ph.D. is from the University of South Dakota (1969) in physiological psychology; he is past president of the Michigan Society for
Biofeedback and Behavioral Medicine and is a fully
licensed practicing psychologist.
PATRICIA V. ROEHLING is Associate Professor
of Psychology at Hope College and is a fully licensed
psychologist. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical
Psychology from Wayne State University. Dr. Roehling
developed Hope College's current internship program
and directed the program for six years.
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