2 answers
Simone
Student
Kissimmee, Florida
1
Question
Asked
1002 views
Which internships or volunteer programs contributed the most insight into mentoring teens?
My career’s interest would include but not limited to counseling teens with any range of social experiences.
Login to comment
2 answers
Chinyere Okafor
Educationist and Counseling Psychologist
1186
Answers
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Updated
Chinyere’s Answer
Hi Simone,
Because the quality of your early exposure matters considerably more than the amount, you are already thinking like someone who will excel at this task. Some voluntary work and internships typically provide the most understanding, emotional intelligence, and preparedness for the real world when it comes to mentoring teenagers.
Here are the environments that tend to move the needle the most:
1. Hotlines for Teen Support or Youth Crisis
One of the strongest training grounds is this one. You get knowledge of risk assessment, emotional control, active listening, and how to react quickly to teenagers dealing with anxiety, identity problems, family strife, and peer pressure.
2. Community Youth Centers & After-School Programs
You are exposed to a variety of personality types and social dynamics in places like local teen centers, religious youth groups, YMCAs, and Boys & Girls Clubs. You gain practical experience in behavior management, mentoring, and developing trust with teenagers from diverse backgrounds.
3. Volunteer Positions at Schools
Working with school counselors, SEL (social-emotional learning) teams, or mentoring programs puts you in close reach to issues such as bullying, family difficulties, academic stress, and developing mental health issues. Additionally, you learn how to work with teachers, which is an important skill in counseling for teenagers.
4. Nonprofits Assisting Youth at Risk
Organizations that assist adolescents experiencing trauma, LGBTQ+ teenagers, foster youth, or homeless youth are transformative learning settings. You learn more about crisis management, trauma-informed care, and resilience.
5. Youth Leadership Programs or Summer Camps
You can learn coaching, group dynamics, dispute resolution, and rapport building at camps and leadership schools. It's mentoring in a lively, interpersonal environment that's perfect for understanding how teenagers think and speak.
6. Adolescent Development-Related Research Laboratories
Joining a lab that studies teen behavior, identity formation, or mental health might provide you with evidence-based knowledge that you can apply to future counseling work if you're interested in the clinical or psychological perspective.
- How to choose the “right” opportunity: Find positions that require you to engage with teenagers rather than merely perform administrative duties. You will get more understanding the more directly you engage.
- How to articulate this experience later: Your ability to establish connection, handle delicate conversations, uphold limits, and encourage teenagers is important to all graduate programs and potential employers. These internships provide you with an early operational toolkit.
You're clearly headed in the right direction, and what makes you stand out as a powerful future therapist is that you're currently creating significant experience.
Best wishes!
Because the quality of your early exposure matters considerably more than the amount, you are already thinking like someone who will excel at this task. Some voluntary work and internships typically provide the most understanding, emotional intelligence, and preparedness for the real world when it comes to mentoring teenagers.
Here are the environments that tend to move the needle the most:
1. Hotlines for Teen Support or Youth Crisis
One of the strongest training grounds is this one. You get knowledge of risk assessment, emotional control, active listening, and how to react quickly to teenagers dealing with anxiety, identity problems, family strife, and peer pressure.
2. Community Youth Centers & After-School Programs
You are exposed to a variety of personality types and social dynamics in places like local teen centers, religious youth groups, YMCAs, and Boys & Girls Clubs. You gain practical experience in behavior management, mentoring, and developing trust with teenagers from diverse backgrounds.
3. Volunteer Positions at Schools
Working with school counselors, SEL (social-emotional learning) teams, or mentoring programs puts you in close reach to issues such as bullying, family difficulties, academic stress, and developing mental health issues. Additionally, you learn how to work with teachers, which is an important skill in counseling for teenagers.
4. Nonprofits Assisting Youth at Risk
Organizations that assist adolescents experiencing trauma, LGBTQ+ teenagers, foster youth, or homeless youth are transformative learning settings. You learn more about crisis management, trauma-informed care, and resilience.
5. Youth Leadership Programs or Summer Camps
You can learn coaching, group dynamics, dispute resolution, and rapport building at camps and leadership schools. It's mentoring in a lively, interpersonal environment that's perfect for understanding how teenagers think and speak.
6. Adolescent Development-Related Research Laboratories
Joining a lab that studies teen behavior, identity formation, or mental health might provide you with evidence-based knowledge that you can apply to future counseling work if you're interested in the clinical or psychological perspective.
- How to choose the “right” opportunity: Find positions that require you to engage with teenagers rather than merely perform administrative duties. You will get more understanding the more directly you engage.
- How to articulate this experience later: Your ability to establish connection, handle delicate conversations, uphold limits, and encourage teenagers is important to all graduate programs and potential employers. These internships provide you with an early operational toolkit.
You're clearly headed in the right direction, and what makes you stand out as a powerful future therapist is that you're currently creating significant experience.
Best wishes!
I truly appreciate you for your encouraging words and thank you so much for your generous feedback!
Simone
You're welcome, Simone!
Chinyere Okafor
Michelle M.
Actress
3276
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Simone !
I see that by your Tags here that you are thinking along the lines of becoming a Clinical Psychologist. That is why I should clear up what you've asked in your question. Clinical Psychologists do not counsel or mentor their patients, they provide therapeutic, clinically based processes for their patients to improve on their mental illnesses and/or learning or developmental disabilities. Mentoring is something completely different and done non-clinically by lay people and professionals in various careers. Counseling (advice and support) is done by Case Managers and Mental Health Counselors and not therapeutic or clinical. although some titled "counselors" may be clinical. So you'd have to learn more about the different careers, choose one and then know how to prepare for it.
That being said, you can begin right now by doing some things that will give you insight before college. Although without experience, you wouldn't be able to work with patients until college during clinicals or an internship. Volunteer work is very beneficial. You also can start reading about various mental illnesses and learning/developmental disabilities to gain more knowledge of the issues you will be working with in college and in your career. You can also view various videos on You Tube about these subjects as well to gain an understanding of what they are.
Some good places for Volunteer Opportunities where you live are Give Kids The World Village, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, the Poinciana Recreation Center, Hands On Orlando, and Advent Health Care (link is below).
There are also online programs that will enrich your knowledge as well as offer hands on experiences. These programs are Rice University’s Precollege Program course called Psychology In Our Everyday Lives, Georgetown University’s Pre-College Online Program features Psychology: How the Brain Influences Behavior, Northwestern University’s Pre-College Online Program includes Psychology: Inside Diagnosis and Treatment (this course is on Clinical Psychology), Wake Forest University offers both an online Immersion Program and an on campus Psychology Institute and has a course called Psychology: How the Brain Works, Cornell University’s School of Continuing Education offers an online Introduction to Psychology course for students aged 16–18, Stanford University’s Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X) is a project-based online program for high school students interested in neuroscience and psychology,.
These programs for young and older teens help in exploring psychology, from foundational knowledge to research experience, with options for credit, certificates, and flexible scheduling. It may be a good idea to start gaining the knowledge at the same time you do volunteer work. You can do this !
I did not see that there are any pre-college internship opportunities in Kissimmee for psychology, so you can visit your school Guidance Counselor and see if there are any pre-college internships that are not listed on the internet. Remember that you will have the opportunity to work with clients/patients during college. By your Junior year, you will have learned enough to start doing hands on work so that is something to look forward to and build up to.
I wish you all the best in starting your active steps towards your career !
ADVENT HEALTH CARE https://www.adventhealth.com/adventhealth-central-florida-volunteer-services
I see that by your Tags here that you are thinking along the lines of becoming a Clinical Psychologist. That is why I should clear up what you've asked in your question. Clinical Psychologists do not counsel or mentor their patients, they provide therapeutic, clinically based processes for their patients to improve on their mental illnesses and/or learning or developmental disabilities. Mentoring is something completely different and done non-clinically by lay people and professionals in various careers. Counseling (advice and support) is done by Case Managers and Mental Health Counselors and not therapeutic or clinical. although some titled "counselors" may be clinical. So you'd have to learn more about the different careers, choose one and then know how to prepare for it.
That being said, you can begin right now by doing some things that will give you insight before college. Although without experience, you wouldn't be able to work with patients until college during clinicals or an internship. Volunteer work is very beneficial. You also can start reading about various mental illnesses and learning/developmental disabilities to gain more knowledge of the issues you will be working with in college and in your career. You can also view various videos on You Tube about these subjects as well to gain an understanding of what they are.
Some good places for Volunteer Opportunities where you live are Give Kids The World Village, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, the Poinciana Recreation Center, Hands On Orlando, and Advent Health Care (link is below).
There are also online programs that will enrich your knowledge as well as offer hands on experiences. These programs are Rice University’s Precollege Program course called Psychology In Our Everyday Lives, Georgetown University’s Pre-College Online Program features Psychology: How the Brain Influences Behavior, Northwestern University’s Pre-College Online Program includes Psychology: Inside Diagnosis and Treatment (this course is on Clinical Psychology), Wake Forest University offers both an online Immersion Program and an on campus Psychology Institute and has a course called Psychology: How the Brain Works, Cornell University’s School of Continuing Education offers an online Introduction to Psychology course for students aged 16–18, Stanford University’s Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X) is a project-based online program for high school students interested in neuroscience and psychology,.
These programs for young and older teens help in exploring psychology, from foundational knowledge to research experience, with options for credit, certificates, and flexible scheduling. It may be a good idea to start gaining the knowledge at the same time you do volunteer work. You can do this !
I did not see that there are any pre-college internship opportunities in Kissimmee for psychology, so you can visit your school Guidance Counselor and see if there are any pre-college internships that are not listed on the internet. Remember that you will have the opportunity to work with clients/patients during college. By your Junior year, you will have learned enough to start doing hands on work so that is something to look forward to and build up to.
I wish you all the best in starting your active steps towards your career !
Michelle recommends the following next steps:
Thanks so much for the clarity you’ve pointed out! I’m grateful for your support and being able to continue this journey.
Simone
You are very welcome, Simone !
Michelle M.