Summer Internship 1

Summer Internship

Mikayla Henry
Mansfield University Psychology Department

Dr. Gretchen Sechrist

PSY 4495, Psychology Internship Summer

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Gretchen Sechrist
2-15-2022
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Summer Internship

On June 15th, I began my internship at Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems in

Bradford, Pennsylvania. I was fortunate enough for this organization to allow me the opportunity

to complete rotations through each of the four programs offered for youth and gain the necessary

experience. However, I ended my rotation at the Short-Term Adolescent Recovery, STAR,

program as I felt I would receive more beneficial experience compared to the other programs.

The purpose of this internship was to gain a stronger understanding of the field, narrow down my

future path, and see if the degree and field were right for me. Additionally, by completing the

480-hour internship this summer, I will be able to complete my bachelor’s degree a semester

early and be on a fast track for my master’s degree.

Beacon Light is an organization that is split between adolescents with behavioral

troubles, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Both are important fields,

however, my interests lean toward behavioral troubles, whether it is with children or adults.

Separated into four programs based on type of treatment and disorder, there is GIRLS, STAR,

SAY, and STRIDE. I was able to experience both GIRLS and STAR; SAY is for the sexually

aggressive youth, all males, and STRIDE is for clients on the autism spectrum. On their website,

the organization seems to have a unified idea of how residential treatment is set-up, but through

my experience, some programs and staff are stricter than others; the longer treatment is required

in a residential facility, the more rigorous and stricter the program is.

I spent the first three weeks at the GIRLS program, a 9–12-month residential facility of

all girls ages 10-18, that mainly uses dialect behavioral therapy. A majority, if not all, of these

clients have been diagnosed with a form of borderline personality disorder, notorious for being

the toughest mental health disorder to treat. This diagnosis requires a dedicated and patient
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treatment team as it is a long and bumpy road, which these girls are fortunate enough to have at

the GIRLS program; Nichole Burritt truly has these girls’ best interest at heart all while being a

straight-forward therapist. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mrs. Burritt and observing her in

therapy sessions.

My responsibilities were slim while at the GIRLS program, as I spent all my time

observing and getting to know the staff and clients. I felt out of place and useless while I was at

this rotation, not completely understanding what I was to them as an intern. Unfortunately, the

staff had no idea what to do with an intern either which plays a part in my lack of responsibility.

I was utterly confused as to what dialect behavioral therapy was, how it was used, and why it

was helpful for these clients. Additionally, I did not witness treatment of trauma and what got

these clients put into placement in the first place; the individual sessions were once a week, and

it was mainly a catch-up chat to see how the client was doing. It is possible I would have

experienced that side of treatment if I had been there longer than three weeks. After a discussion

with my academic supervisor, I took initiative to be more involved and ask more questions to

make this part of the internship more meaningful.

I was unaware that I was to go to summer school with the clients, so while they went to

school, I sat at the facility with the therapists while they contacted the families and asked what

the next steps in sessions would be. Since I spent most of my time with the clients, I was able to

provide insight to the therapists on what I had observed and be more a part of the sessions. I

made sure to ask for the client’s consent each session to make sure they were comfortable with

me sitting in and observing; I had no issues with sitting in on their sessions. As well as sit with

the therapists while the clients were at school, I researched dialect behavioral therapy to gain
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knowledge of treatment being provided and read some of the cards that clients use in therapy to

learn what DBT is.

Though I may not have gained the experience I had expected at this rotation, I did make

meaningful connections with the therapists, and have people to go to when I need academic and

career advice. While I was at STAR, I spoke to the therapist about my concerns and struggles

with the previous rotation, and how I wanted to be more involved at this rotation. She allowed

me to sit in on individual and family sessions like my last rotation, but I was also able to run

therapy groups at least once a week. This was the experience I was looking for.

The therapist I mainly worked with only had one client at the time, so I did not get much

therapy session experience, but I stayed on the unit and sat in on group therapy and hung out

with the clients. Toward the end of my internship, we received three new clients, and one of

them was to be working with this therapist. Luckily, I was allowed to witness the intake process

of a new client and sit in on the mental health evaluations. The assessments used, that I can

recall, were the Beck Depression Youth Inventory, the Resilience scale, Sexual Abuse and

History assessment, and a few others. While I was observing these assessments, I noticed my

ability to pick up on body language when one is lying or uncomfortable. This came in handy

later on as I spent more time with the client.

Overall, this rotation was far more beneficial experience wise. However, I spent little

time with the other therapist who had the rest of the clients, which meant I did not sit in on

sessions or home visit family sessions. In hindsight, that might have been for the best because

being piled on with every clients’ history and troubles would make it difficult for me to focus on

specifics and connect with each client. Also, I felt as though I was a free staff member at this

rotation, as I spent almost all of my time on the unit, and there were days where it was just me
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and a nurse. When situations where it is just me and the nurse arise, I have more responsibility

such as doing the daily shift notes, making sure chores get done, and clients behave. It gave me

experience, but I feel taken advantage of by the organization since I was not paid, and it was

something I had discussed with my site supervisor once the age to work go reduced to 18-years-

old.

Normally, I would not be upset about being an unpaid intern, as finding a paid

psychology internship at the bachelor’s level is rare; but for me to complete my internship on

time, I had to do crazy hours leaving me no time to work my other job. I allowed myself Sundays

off as a rest day so I would not burnout fast, and I worked at least eight-hour days the whole

week. When it came down to the last few weeks of my internship, I realized I would still be short

a few days-worth of hours, and would have to finish in Ulster, PA when I did not have class. I

discussed this with the staff, and they all advised me to do everything in my power to not go to

Ulster, so I started pulling 10-11 hour shifts. By doing this, I burnt myself out quickly and

became easily irritable, something I need to work on.

Expose myself to multiple areas in the field to help narrow down my interests for future

education and career.

My main goal for this internship was to narrow down my interests in the field, whether it

be clientele or setting of work. Within my first week as an intern, I knew I did not want to be a

regular staff member for a residential treatment facility, or even work in a residential facility.

From my perspective and experience in this internship, staff on the units are intense baby-sitters

whose responsibility is keeping the children occupied and the unit clean. I am not discrediting

their job at all because it is harder than it looks, and they are the glue that holds the unit together.
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Of the therapists I worked with, they all have some sort of master’s degree in clinical

mental health counseling and assured me I could work anywhere with that degree; this was great

news because the clinical aspect of psychology has always intrigued me. The longer I spent at

the internship, the more I realized where my interests lie, the trauma. Within the first two weeks

of the internship, there was a restraint with a client who was in crisis, and although it is not a

pleasant situation and one never wishes a crisis on a person, that was the side to all of this I was

looking for. I am not sure if it is the drama of the situation that is interesting, or the pace, but I

like the “exciting” things; I am aware that situations such as these do not occur all of the time. I

still feel as though I need to experience the field from a psychiatric inpatient point of view

because the idea of working in a hospital has always interested me. Eventually, I figured out

what I am looking for in a master’s program, one that is more hands on and less research

oriented; this would be a Master of Arts rather than science which should help me narrow down

school choices. Given that PASSHE schools have lower tuition rates, I feel more comfortable

looking into those options and staying in Pennsylvania. Additionally, to help me narrow the

search, a coworker informed me to make sure the school is APA accredited because the cost of a

licensure gets added into the tuition and you become licensed with the program rather than

paying out of pocket to take the exam later on. Overall, I think I made good progress on this

goal, it is not completed, but I have a better understanding of what I want in the future which is

all I can ask for.

Be able to observe what I learned in class in real world situations.

I did not make much progress on this goal because I have not taken therapy courses yet

but learning what I did at this internship will help me when I take the courses this year. Of the

previous psychology courses I have taken, Health Psychology, Stress Management, Social
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Psychology, and Psychological Assessment have helped me out with this goal. At GIRLS, some

of the coping skills they used were deep breathing and guided meditation. I had practiced deep

breathing and guided meditation in Stress Management and had a hard time with them because I

was too distracted. The clients showed me there are different ways to do deep breathing and

explained how they use them in different situations. I found this interesting because the course

did not go in depth. I brought up progressive muscle relaxation to one of the therapists because it

is something that has helped me in the past, and what I learned was shocking. Clients with

trauma history and PTSD are unable to use progressive muscle relaxation and it is highly

unrecommended for anyone with severe anxiety and PTSD because it can send them into an

episode of flashbacks or panic attacks. I was unaware of this because it was discussed in a

positive manner in class, and as someone with severe anxiety, it helps me more than a guided

meditation.

Social Psychology helped me throughout this internship because in that class I learned

about stereotypes and prejudice; because of that class I was open minded and nonjudgmental of

the clients. At Beacon Light, we get clients of all ages, gender, sexuality, race, and disorder. As a

therapist, you must put your personal beliefs in a drawer and not allow them to influence how

you treat a client. I witnessed this at GIRLS because the one therapist is a pastor and very

religious and some clients are atheist, gay, etc. She did not allow her beliefs influence how she

treated her clients in sessions, something that I consider to be difficult. At STAR, there are a few

transgenders, and the staff gets frustrated when they must deal with name changes and making

sure they address the client by their preferred pronouns, and it can upset the clients. At treatment,

clients expect it to be a safe space to be themselves because they are not allowed to do it at
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home. It may be a generational thing, but it is not difficult for me to address someone how they

want to be addressed.

One important piece of information I learned from this internship that coincides with this

goal is that a client is not their diagnosis. A diagnosis is meant to be a guide for treatment and

provide clarity for behaviors. These clients are still just kids that want to be kids and are

unfortunately put into situations where they cannot. Two clients might have the same diagnosis,

but they are not the same. They do not behave in the exact ways and might even require different

treatment. To be in this field, as a staff or therapist, it is important to acknowledge the diagnosis,

but not let it cloud judgment and treat the client in a way that “is their disorder”.

Practice client interaction and set proper boundaries.

Going into my first rotation, I was warned that the clients would want to overshare, try to

manipulate me into sharing personal information, and to say as little about myself as possible.

This was a difficult goal for me because how I help my friends through troubling times,

especially if I relate to it heavily, is by sharing my experiences and how I handles them. It was

also difficult for me to not invest to much of myself and get attached because they are just kids,

and some of them are really sweet. I made mistakes with this goal because I did get attached to

one client and he drew me a picture on my last day and we both cried. I have a big heart and feel

emotions strong, which is something I will have to work on in this field.

I did run into a situation where I knew a client’s family but did not figure it out until I

went to the client’s house for a family session. I acted professional and gave no indication that I

knew the family until the mother brought it up. Afterward, I talked with the therapist, explaining

how I know the family, and that it would not be a good idea for me to be involved in family

sessions so our relationship does not hinder the treatment. I was still able to sit in on individual
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sessions with the client, and he did ask me how I knew his mom, but that was about it. Because I

knew the family, the client clung to me and called me his “sister”, and I had to redirect him and

set proper boundaries. Whenever I ran into an issue regarding client interaction and boundaries, I

would ask staff and the therapist for advice on how to handle the situation in the future.

Spend time in the work setting focusing on active listening.

I chose this goal because it is something I struggle with daily, and a problem I need to

overcome if I am going to be in this field. I struggle with taking notes while trying to listen to

what the professor is saying in class, I zone out when someone talks to me for a while and

daydream, and I am easily distracted. How am I going to be able to take notes in a therapy

session while still giving the client the attention they require? Personally, when my therapist is

taking notes while I am talking, I feel like she is not listening to me, and it makes me not want to

talk, and I do not want to be that way for my future clients.

Conversely, I am a hyperaware and hypersensitive person that can pick up on sudden

shifts in one’s mood or body language, which came in handy during client interactions. After I

spent a decent amount of time with a client, I start to pick up on their “tells” when something is

wrong and attempt to help them navigate the situation positively. As time went on, I made good

progress on this goal and was able to help educate a staff about a situation in which he made, in

his mind, a harmless comment that ended up deeply affecting a client. This client brings a stress

ball to meals because she has a history of anorexia and body dysmorphia, so mealtimes are hard

for her, and he made a comment about not needing a stress ball at meals because “eating is not

stressful”. Additionally, I sit in on treatment meetings for the clients, and a few times I was asked

for my input because I spend a lot of time with them, and I was able to provide insight to things
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they were unaware of. I could still use some help in the active listening department and practice

taking notes and listening better, but I think I made good progress.

Gain an understanding of the field from a quality management perspective.

Understanding the field from a quality management perspective was not my idea as much

as it was my site supervisor. It is important to know how effective certain tactics are and what

would make the unit flow better, but I am not looking to be in an administrative position. I had a

negative experience with the administration, human resources, and the general manager of the

program. My site supervisor hardly contacted me or helped me, the HR team was behind in my

paperwork and set back my start date and did not provide me with materials needed such as a fob

to get into the building until weeks into my internship, and the general manager did not want to

work with me at all. I spoke about my grievances with my academic supervisor, and it made me

realize I do not want to work for this organization after the internship is over. I had asked to be a

paid intern and my site supervisor was all for it, but did not communicate to the general manager,

and the general manager said there was no way I could be an intern and a staff at the same time

to be paid, and that she had never heard of a paid intern before.

Quality management with the clients was a little difficult too because none of the staff are

on the same page when following the rules and what is expected of the clients. This is an issue

because with some staff behaviors slide and other staff call out those behaviors, making it

impossible for the clients to properly correct themselves, know right from wrong, and progress in

their treatment. I believe the staff and therapists would greatly benefit from weekly team

meetings to discuss clients, behaviors, and any changes that need to be made. I do not know if

every organization is like this, or if it is just Beacon Light, but I did not learn much from them. I
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learned a lot of what not to do when it comes to quality management, but I am still having a hard

time understanding what it means.

For future interns, I advise finding a site a semester before you would like to do your

internship and get all of the necessary paperwork done well before you start. I started looking for

internship sites near home which was difficult, and Beacon Light was my last resort, but they are

always looking for help. I had all of my clearances from working at the school and was not

concerned about starting late until I contacted HR and they told me I had to redo my clearances,

which made the start date much later than it should have been. It is important to get all your

ducks in a row weeks before you would like to start so you can avoid any setbacks. This

company also lacks in communication, and I went in blind. I did not even know that I had been

accepted until the last week of the semester. They had told my academic supervisor that I had

been “hired”, but not me. Overall, I would not recommend Beacon Light to any new interns from

my area.

Regardless of the bumps in the road, I still valued this internship because bad experience

is still experience that I can use on my resume and learn from. The staff at this organization are

welcoming for the most part and I felt at home when I was at STAR because the staff utilized me

as more than an extra set of eyes. I was able to run therapy groups about the Ten Wise Ways to

achieve BrainWise, be a support system for the clients, sit in on individual and family therapy

sessions, come up with fun activities for the clients, and take them on outings over the weekend.

This internship has helped with personal growth, more than I expected, as well as academic

growth. Leaving this internship, I gained more than experience, but connections as well, and for

that I am grateful.