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Senior Internship Experience

Christine Freitas

As a senior with a major in child development it is mandatory that you gain experience in a field that interests you. This experience not only allows you to get your foot in the door, but it also allows the student to evaluate his or her goals. The field I am interested in pursuing a careeris counseling disadvantaged children. I was fortunate enough to be placed at Sierra Vistas Children's Center where I was able to gain practical knowledge in this career. With a supportive supervisor and staff I was able to experience the clinical environment with positive feelings.

The focus of the internship was to gain knowledge in a clinical setting. I was involved in a wide range of activities, however I was limited in the areas of counseling and therapy due to not having a degree. Evaluating client information and formulating biopsychosocial histories were involved in the paper work. The more hands on type of work was observing clinical staff with clients and attending agency training's. And of course learning program policies and procedures was also required.

The Sierra Vista Children's Center is made up of clinical staff, a pediatrician, a nurse practitioner, and psychologist. Children are usually referred by their schools. Individual and group therapy, family counseling, parent education courses, and medication to those interested are major components of the program. Priority in the wait list goes to those of low income or who receive medi-cal benefits.

The agency is geared to helping children who are diagnosed with Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Clinicians have been properly trained to counsel children who have problems with impulsiveness, hyperactivity, or inattention. Doctors on staff are familiar with the types of appropriate medications that children with ADHD will benefit most from. Working together with parents, teachers, trained counselors, and doctors are an advantage that children who have ADHD have not always had. The program is primarily set to benefit the child in being able to comply in a structured setting and in his or her everyday tasks.

The experience that I gained through this internship was more than I had anticipated. When entering this internship I felt that I would be placed doing paper work that had no significance or job relation to counseling. I was very surprised to see that I was working on paper work that would be seen by the county and evaluating doctors. I was also very amazed when I was asked to sit in with clinical staff and counselors. I learned working with this population was no easy task. As a counselor I think that you have the idea that you can help people instantly, and I learned that the process is much slower.

The experience that I gained from working at Sierra Vista has definitely allowed me to see the counseling field in a positive light. The benefits of working with children involves a personal satisfaction. Working with this population also allows you to see the world and not just read it from a text book. The client information that I had to evaluate was real life people who had faces. The difference between reading a text book and actually experiencing clinical work is tremendous.

I would like to thank my supervisor at Sierra Vista Chilren's ADHD clinic along with the staff that provided me with such a positive experience. The knowledge I have gained has been more than beneficial.