First internship course in Psychology

The first internship course in the Psychology Major of University of Macau (UM) was introduced this semester as the first group of students of the program will graduate this year.

According to Dr. Kay Chang, Psychology Internship instructor, there are 10 local institutes offering internship opportunities for the year four psychology students. The selected training places expect Psychology students in the applied stream can apply their psychological knowledge in organizational behaviors and consumer relationships. As for the counseling stream, students are expected to learn how to be part of the mental health service system in Macau. They are also expected to apply their skills and knowledge in helping people who are going through difficult times.

Training sites for the applied stream students include the Community Movement Project, Air Macau, Student Affairs Office of UM, UM & Direccao dos Servicos de Educacao e Juventude (DSEJ) - Research on Youth Gambling and Macau Tower. While the counseling stream students will be trained at the Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macau (ARTM), Hoi Sing Elementary School, Macau Neighborhood Association, the Elderly Caring Network, Caring Network and Macau Red Cross.

“The internship offers mutually beneficial opportunities to both students and their [the organizations’] own staff, and the diverse nature of the internship sites,” said Dr. Chang. The diverse nature, she means, is that the 37 students in the course can also learn from their classmates’ experience when they meet in group supervisions.
“My expectation is that our 37 students can maintain a more sober perspective when learning to better apply themselves in the profession of psychology,” she added.

One of the Psychology Internship students, Shirley Lam, says that she is going to work in the school counseling service department in Hoi Sing Elementary School with three of her classmates with a minimum 150 training hours throughout the semester. There, she will observe and talk with students during their recess time. “The first step I am going to do is to build up a relationship with my clients,” Lam said.

Established in 2002, the Psychology Program consists of two streams: applied psychology and counseling psychology. The applied psychology will concentrate on the business aspect while the counseling psychology will concentrate on helping professionals like social workers, teachers and nurses.