By Mathilde AVRIL
During my university studies, I have completed two internships. A first experience involved the field of research, during my third year of Bachelor (“Licence”). And I had the opportunity to complete another internhip in two institutes and a service for children / adolescents with disabilities during my first year of master’s degree.
Third year Bachelor of Psychology internship:
During my third year of study, I wanted to discover the work of a professor in developmental psychology. At that time, I was interested, from a theoretical point of view, to the sphere of language and particularly its pragmatic component. So, I made the choice of an internship at a major Research Center on Cognition and learning in Western France. This was a traineeship with no direct connection with my professional project, but for me an advantage to prepare the Study and Research Work that I will have to conduct in the framework of the first year of Master. During this traineeship, I was able to follow and participated in a research on the study of language in its context and more particularly on its opacity. I realized out various missions, such as participating in the creation of a new methodological tool, undertaking group assignments or coding data.
First year of Master :
Concerning my traineeship in the first year of my Master’s degree, I wanted to really discover the aspect of the job of psychologist that would really match my professional project, i.e., working with children and teenagers with a handicap. Thanks to the childhood pole of a major support group in a Western region I was able to accompany and work in a physical education institute, in a Sensory Education institute and in an education and home-based care service for physical disabilities. During this traineeship, I was able to really see what the job of a psychologist working in an associative / institutional environment with a specific population was, while thoroughy respecting the code of ethics of Psychologists (2012), both in my posture and in my various missions/tasks.
Concerning my missions, I was able to take part in the clinical interviews, the group of girls speech and the various meeting. I was able to do psychometric tests, write reports and give oral reports to young people and their families.
This traineeship within the association really met my expectations and validated some of the choices I had made regarding future career plans.
First of all, I wanted to discover the “associatif” and institute sector working with children and adolescents with disabilities, and more specifically their work in academic and social integration. This is a cause that I would like to defend as much as I would like to contribute to its evolution in our society. I also wanted to check if my idea of working with a population of children and / or adolescents with a disability matched my expectations. Thanks to this traineeship, I know that I will focus my practice of psychology on this population. The objective of this traineeship was also to deepen my knowledge about physical and sensory disability… But also my knowledge about practice, psychometric tests and projective tests. I have invested a great deal in developing my knowledge with the psychologist, but also in setting up a personal research work on these different fields. During this traineeship, I also wanted to discover the work of psychologist within a multidisciplinary team. Having a systemic approach, I find it important and beneficial to work as a team. The direct exchanges with the various professionals while respecting well the confidentiality of the patient / psychologist reports, as well as the work of each one; makes it possible to better know the young person, how it behaves in a situation. This traineeship also allowed me to realize the responsibility of the psychologist in the transmission of his psychological and psychometric analyzes within the framework of an orientation or a diagnosis. I think it is fundamental not to base his analysis only on figures but on a more global level by taking into account all the systems in which the young person develops. Finally, this traineeship also allowed me to know myself better.
To conclude on this traineeship experience, it really allowed me to go deeper into my approach to psychology as well as my professional project. I would like to work in an associative / institutional environment with children and adolescents with a disability.
