PSY 410/510 Psychology Internship Information

What you'll need:
  1. A psychology related job or internship opportunity (your "internship site").

    • You'll need to know how many hours you can work within the term, as this will help you determine how many credits you are taking.

  2. A completed and signed internship agreement with your site.

  3. Approval to enter the course from the Internship Coordinator (granted upon review of a completed and signed internship agreement).

    • You will then be given an override into the course to allow you to register.

 

Internship Site

You are responsible for finding your internship site.  Your internship site will need to be related to the field of psychology, and you will need to be able to apply psychology classes you've taken to the work you are doing.  Sites do not have to be clinical in nature, as psychology majors end up working in a variety of fields.  This is pretty open-ended.  These types of sites have typically met these requirements with ease:

  • Residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents
  • Substance abuse agencies
  • Developmental disabilities facilitates
  • Parole or probation internships or jobs
  • Call centers for people experiencing suicidal thinking or other emotional crises
  • Work for mental health alliance organizations, including call screening, e.g.,:
    • Domestic violence shelters
    • Mental health advocacy organizations
  • Teacher or classroom assistant work

Interested in an internship, but struggling to find a site?  You can look at these lists of agencies that have often provided work or internships for our students: Volunteer and internship listings, OSU Career Center Resources, Portland-based internship sites, or Corvallis-based internship sites. This list is not exhaustive, but may give you ideas or inspiration for where to look and what you want to look for.

Or, for information on OSU’s standards for internships, visit the Career Development Center page on internships.

Feel free to email the Internship Coordinator if you are wondering if your internship or job could meet criteria for PSY 410.

 

Internship Coordinator

Nicole Wolf, nicole.wolf@oregonstate.edu
 

 

How Many PSY 410 Credits Can I Earn?

PSY 410 is a variable credit course, graded Pass/No Pass. You can enroll for 1-16 credits and can split those credits across terms. Although only 4 credits can count toward your psychology major, any additional credits count as elective credits toward graduation requirements.

Each credit requires 30 hours of work over the course of the term. Regardless of the number of credits a student takes, they will do about 20 hours of reading and writing over the course of the term in an online Canvas classroom taught by the Internship Instructor

Number of credits Coursework + Internship Hours Classroom hours per term Internship hours per term Average internship hours per week
1 30 20 10 1
2 60 20 40 4
3 90 20 70 7
4 120 20 100 10
For each additional credit hour, add 30 internship hours per term, or an average of 3 hours per week.

Students can enroll for fewer credits than what is possible based on their work hours (i.e. if you only need 3 credits toward graduation, but are working 15 hours each week, you can enroll for only 3 credits instead of the 5 credits).

 

Liability Insurance

Students doing clinically-oriented work may face civil or criminal charges if they harm a client through inappropriate actions or the failure to take necessary action. Students working in clinical placements that involve potential liability risks should purchase student liability insurance. This insurance costs about $35 per year and will help cover legal costs. Speak with your internship coordinator if you are not certain about whether you should purchase liability insurance.

Reputable providers include: