As an intern at Copper Hills Youth Center, I learned the skills necessary to be a successful

professional. I not only learned about how to plan and run interventions and processing
discussions, but how to therapeutically connect with a population I didn’t have much
experience with. I’ll admit, I was nervous when I accepted this internship. I had not worked
extensively with adolescents and teens in the past, and certainly not with individuals with these
diagnoses. However, with the help of my supervisor Brandon and the rest of my team at Copper
Hills, I learned that I can not only handle these kids but make a difference in their lives.
I began my internship by shadowing Brandon in each group he ran. I was introduced to the
girls and observed how they reacted to Brandon’s personality. I understood very quickly that if I
was going to get through to these girls, I had to remember that they were just kids who were
struggling. As I began to take on a stronger role in Brandon’s groups, whether it be by running
check-in or helping facilitate the intervention, I began to develop a strong rapport with the girls.
About four weeks into my internship, I began taking over Brandon’s role in group and
facilitating not only the intervention but the processing discussions as well. My first processing
discussion, I wrote down what questions I was going to ask and had a well thought out plan. It
became apparent very quickly that what I had planned, would rarely occur. I learned that the
girls brought what they needed to work on to group. For example, I had planned an
intervention focusing on word choice and appropriate communication. The girls became
extremely competitive, and the situation escalated to the point where girls were yelling,
slamming doors, and threatening each other. Rather than process about word choice
specifically, we processed about matching the energy of the room and why the girls felt the
need to be so overly competitive with each other.
Throughout my internship, I worked on several projects for Copper Hills. I wrote two
Diagnostic Protocols, which gave me a better understand of the population I would be working
with. I completed a case study, during which I had four one-on-one sessions with one of my
residents. This allowed me to not only get to know a resident on a more personal level, but to
practice different types of interventions on a more personalized scale. I developed a better
therapeutic relationship with that resident, and she began engaging more consistently in my
groups. I also created a therapeutic Jenga set, which I wrote an intervention protocol for.
Through this, I had the chance to focus on different areas of the Leisure Well-Being Model and
Resiliency Theory, and to develop processing questions for those different areas. Writing an
intervention protocol gave me practice writing professional documents.
The movie “The Blind Side” comes to mind when I think of my experience. Leigh Anne
Tuohy said it best. When told she was changing Michael Oher’s life, she responded “no…he’s
changin’ mine.” Take no credit, take no blame. Just do your best to help who you can, and I’ve
learned that they will help you tenfold.