Human services has many branches, and each one involves mastering a set of skills. Your in ternship will introduce you to them in appropriate ways. The next few pages present some personal and professional challenges that interns may face in different settings. However, the number of examples is far from exhaustive. Instead of trying to cover every area you might encounter at an internship, we focus on becoming more competent in areas that most interns are likely to face.
Staff Conflicts
There are disagreements and sometimes even conflicts in every workplace. Stressful situations like these can bring out the worst in people, including staff as well as clients. Consequently, it is important to know about your conflict style, especially its strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to talk about and deal with different points of view is an essential skill because it can help us de-escalate situations and reach reasonable solutions. However, acquiring this ability takes time. If a stressful situation occurs among coworkers, try to stay within your role as an intern. Doing so will help you remain neutral and reduce the risk of contributing to the situation.
Working with Abused or Neglected Children
Child abuse and neglect is an area of human services that some professionals struggle with because the cases can be emotionally powerful. Protecting children is something that most professionals in this field see as a priority. Legally, a professional is obligated to report instances of child abuse. Yet, many professionals struggle with their own feelings when working in this area as they can range from outrage against the abuse to fear about some form of retribution by the alleged abuser. Consequently, it is important to remember that you are the voice of the child, perhaps the only one in this situation.
If you are working in a setting where you are likely to encounter abuse, it is important to develop some skill in detecting abuse and knowing how to handle or report it properly if it occurs. After all, children typically do not question the actions of adults, especially their parents, and child abuse occurs predominantly within the home. In addition, the children are often coached about what to say and how to answer in the event of an intervention. You need to be aware of this possibility and know how to address it. Fortunately, there are training sessions and continuing education courses where these skills can be developed, and you should be ready to take advantage of them.
Placing Children
Working with children in your internship can be particularly painful because it often involves watching children experience the loss and separation of one or both parents. The child may even become a ward of the foster care system. To be effective in this area, you must develop some sense of clinical objectivity. If you find yourself getting angry with the parents of abused or neglected children, it is time to re-examine your perspective. Blaming behaviors will only make the situation worse. Instead, try to follow procedures, document events properly, and adhere to your role. After all, that is what you are there for. Of course, in these situations an intern is likely to be only an observer, so use the opportunity to see how clinicians respond so that you can decide which behaviors to model.
Adoption
Some children are placed for adoption for a variety of reasons. One of the most common is that the birth parents believe that it is the best way the for the child to have a chance at a better life. Closed adoptions, which means that even as an adult the adopted child cannot learn about their biological parents were common at one time. However, that practice has been replaced by what is called open adoption. Open adoption allows the birthparents, the adoptive couple, and the child to know more about their genetic histories and have an ongoing relationship with each other if they choose.
Open adoption can also be done in a semi-open form, which allows for minimal contact between the child and biological parent(s). For example, letters and pictures may be shared through the adoption agency. In-person meetings are also scheduled if the birth parents agree to them. Of course, it is important to be able to maintain a professional demeanor and to follow the policies of the agency where you intern. Your role is to observe, learn, and model as you acquire the necessary skills to meet the needs of the clients.
