Internship Major Psychology

BACHELOR: MAJOR PSYCHOLOGY

The internship is not a required part of the curriculum in the Major Psychology. In general, you should independently seek an internship in private companies, public institutions, or internal/external university research institutions to complete your internship. Specifically, internships can be completed in companies and public institutions as well as in university-internal and -external research institutions.

The module “Internship Major Psychology” in the complementary study program “Practice-oriented approaches to inter- and transdisciplinary sciences” is offered in both summer and winter semesters. The minimum duration of the internship in the corresponding module is 4 weeks (mandatory internship component).

During the time of your internship, you may schedule individual advising appointments with me (roman.troetschel@leuphana.de) to receive university support.

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Objective

Upon the completion of this course, students should be able to:

  •  improve their skills with respect to the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practice,
  •  learn to interact effectively with professional staffs
  •  learn to effectively use individual and group supervision,
  •  acquire specific professional skills essential for beginning career roles in the work area in which they are placed,
  •  understand their strengths and weakness in the study and practice of psychology,
  •  stimulate their awareness and careful planning of future career goals.

Requirements for internship credit:

The primary supervisor of the internship within the company/organization/research institution must have a university degree in psychology (either diploma, master’s degree in psychology). The activities within the internship must be predominantly professional in nature, i.e., corresponding to the activities of (prospective) psychologists or psychologists. The internship report must be accompanied by an internship certificate from the company/organization/research institution, which must be signed by the primary supervisor (i.e., a psychologist). The internship certificate must indicate the academic degree of the primary supervisor (e.g., Dipl. Psych., MSc Psych., Dr. rer. nat. in Psychology). From 2022  onwards is no longer possible to get credit points for an internship in clinical psychology (e.g., psychological therapy) as the Leuphana does not fulfill the requirements of the German Association of Psychology (DGPs) and the German law for psychotherapy (Psychotherapeutengesetz) and thus cannot provide any education or training in psychotherapy.

Recommendations

It is often expected by companies/institutions that basic knowledge in the field of psychology has already been acquired when assigning challenging tasks. Therefore, it is recommended that the internship be completed in a higher semester (5th semester or higher). You should actively and independently search for an internship position that is suitable for you. Completing further internships or longer internship periods can be useful depending on the subject orientation, availability of places, and requirements of the sponsoring organizations (companies, public institutions, research institutions), but is not obligatory as an examination performance in the module. Following the suggestions of the German Psychological Society (DGPs), a total internship period of 8 weeks is recommended (4 weeks are mandatory). It is also recommended to take the module in the semester in which you have been accepted for an internship. Furthermore, it is recommended to complete the internship outside the lecture period in order not to suffer any disadvantages in the ongoing courses during the semester.

Examination

The examination in the module Internship Major Psychology (Fundamentals) consists of (1) the internship, (2) a report, and (3) a PowerPoint presentation in the internship forum. Thus, the completion of a four-week internship is a mandatory component for the successful completion of the module (mandatory internship). A corresponding document confirming the mandatory nature of the internship as part of the module can be found on MyStudy (“Material”). 

Assessment of the examination performance

The grading in the module will be based on the internship report (70% of the final grade) and your poster presentation (30% of the final grade). Participation in the internship forum and the associated poster presentation is mandatory for the successful completion of the module. In addition to the poster for the internship forum, you will complete an internship report as part of this course. Document templates can be found in the “materials” folder on MyStudy. In addition, you should also submit a copy of your internship certificate (minimum 4 weeks full-time) along with the report. For the language of the internship report and presentation, the internship report can be written in either English or German, the presentation should be prepared in English for ease of discussion.

Kick-Off Event

All relevant information will also be presented in the kick-off event at the start of the semester.

A presentation on this kick-off event can be found on MyStudy. Participation in the Kick-Off event is not mandatory in contrast to participation in the Internship Forum. However, it is recommended to attend this kick-off event in order to clarify all questions relevant to you.

If you need the document confirming the internship as a mandatory event for the company/institution you have chosen, please send me (roman.troetschel@leuphana.de) the completed confirmation letter (uploaded as a doc file on MyStudy) with your personal information (see “Materials” folder MyStudy) and send it back to me as PDF DOCUMENT (!!) via email. I will provide you afterward with my signature.