During my third year in psychology, I had the opportunity to do an internship in an institution which is an accomodation for elderly and dependant persons (EHPAD). This structure welcomes people mainly suffering from dementias and degenerative or neurodevelopmental pathologies. My objectives were to discover the profession of psychologist, the missions that he may have with the residents, understand the functioning of a health care institution and participate in a multidisciplinary work within the healthcare team. In addition, I wanted to develop my observation skills, especially during clinical interviews and situations analysis, but also to enrich my knowledge about the various pathologies, their development and the secondary disorders that may be associated with them. I had the chance to create and co-animate a cognitive workshops dedicated to the residents and allowing them to work their cognitive abilities with adapted exercises. Having not done a placement before this 3rd year of Bachelor (licence), this allowed me to understand the profession of psychologist within the institution, to attend the interviews with the residents, to discover my capacities of listening, benevolence and analysis of the elderly. It is a first experience that has been very enriching to me in particular in the discovery of the profession of psychologist. However, it is not a public that I wish to work as a future psychologist.
For the first year of my Master’s in Psychology, I completed an internship with an association, which practices therapeutic riding and adapted to a wide range of people in difficulty. I therefore joined the multidisciplinary team of this structure which also includes a psychologist, who has provided me with the theoretical information necessary for this practice and who knew to accompany me during this experiment. Thus, I have been in contact with children and adolescents with various problems and therapeutic objectives very varied. It was very rich for me. I accompanied one person during each session, which required a good capacity of adaptation on my part. I also proposed activities according to the capacities and objectives of each one, ensured the safety of the people with animals, but also created relationships of trust and sharing that are necessary for the smooth running of the sessions. In addition, the session allowed me to observe interactions between the animal and the subject. Some relationships are very intense and it allows patients to go through a non-verbal communication. At the end of each session, I made a report with my personal observations. Finally, this field of practice has allowed me to gain confidence in myself, to feel calm with people who I was able to accompany. This experience confirms my wish to work as a psychologist with children and adolescents. She also convinced me of the efficiency of this practice of equitherapie. In the future, I wish to allow me to become psychologist and practices equitherapie.
During my second year of my Master’s, I realized an internship in Units of Hospitalization for Children. I attented tree units for children aged 3 to 11 years. Some children had behavioral problems, attachment-related problems, suicidal ideation, autistic disorders and many related difficulties. Thus, I was able to participate in the children’s reception time on the units, which is spent talking about the events that may have happened at home or in the school. These times allowed me to discover the children, to know for what purpose they came, the questions they could have about situations etc. Then, games and workshops were often integrated. The games allows children to indulge without directly talking about themselves, which facilitates communication with some. In addition, I had the opportunity to perform psychometric test passing (WISC IV, Rey’s Figure) and to attend numerous passes alongside the psychologist (Rocharch, Patte Noire, TAT), as well as clinical interviews with children. After passing tests, I had to write reports. It was an exercise that brought me a lot as a future psychologist. I also organized a projective workshop with a group of 3 children aged 10 years. Furthermore, I attented sessions of psychomotricity and other activities organized by the units according to the problems. Thus, this internship allowed me to adopt an attitude of professional with autonomy.
Finally, since september 18, 2017 I have integrated the Psychotherapy Center for Young Children (aged 3 to 12 years old) in order to continue my university course within their structure.
