Internship Final at SAM Inc.

Carissa West
Department of Psychology, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
PSY 3395: Psychology Practicum
Dr. Gretchen Sechrist
August 16, 2021

February 8, 2022
I interned as a summer ACE worker for a program with kids aged 10-17. They are eligible for

the program if they have an open case throughout the county through Children and Youth. I

worked for a company called SAM Inc based out of Wellsboro, PA. This was an easy job for me

to commute to Monday through Friday as I got a house in Mansfield this summer. This program

also helps with behavioral modification and works as a good reward system. We taught the kids

several different coping mechanisms throughout the span of time I worked with them. They were

then rewarded for their good behavior with a program called NYPUM. This was a program set

up to teach them how to ride minibikes. They were also taught skills for outdoor recreation such

as high and low ropes courses, Wilderness Expedition Program, and kayaking skills. I also

worked alongside five individuals for independent meetings that helped them process feelings

throughout each day. This helped them work through and come up with goals for their Youth

Service Plans.

My first goal I made was to understand the ACE programs framework and goals on why

a program like this exists and how it benefits the youth it serves. This was approached by

observing various methods of intervention, noting different approaches to skill building, and

being trauma informed with youth and their families. I did this also by intentionally observing

staff and their interactions with each other, youth, and families to note ways of day-to-day

operations. I then debriefed this with my program supervisor, Shelby. Goal two talked about

learning about the Adverse Experience Study (ACE) to help me deliver trauma-informed care

across social services. I reviewed resources on understanding ACE scores and applied the

content to inform me with interactions with program youth. This helped me specifically attempt

to understand how youth behaviors I witnessed at program might be influenced by their

experience with trauma. Goal three was part of my training that each staff member had to learn.

It was a de-escalation, empathy, and ACE philosophy training course. This was then applied by
doing self-esteem building exercises with the group as part of programming. This also included

using de-escalation skills in stressful situations with youth to help them return to their emotional

baselines when becoming overwhelmed, aggressive, or withdrawn. Goal four was important to

me because I worked with five youth on an individual basis to facilitate their youth family

service plans with goals relevant to behavioral concerns disclosed by youth's guardians or

caseworks and action items outlining the path the youth would take to meet this goal. This was a

fun experience developing coaching sessions with youth to help them gain specific skills relevant

to their goals. This goal came with lots of documentation sessions through case notes. Goal five

was the theme of the program as youth were taught coping skills throughout. I helped aid youth

in developing and using effective coping skills to empower them to more effectively manage big

emotions. This helped me nurture these trust-based relationships with youth, so they felt

comfortable talking about their trigger points with me. This was also useful in practicing my

debriefing skills when I would see youth using their coping skills to commend their progress and

help them process how using these skills aided them in managing their emotions.

I loved working in this population with kids with these needs. It takes a lot of empathy

and strong boundaries to work with kids who are involved with Children and Youth Services.

Oftentimes these kids need the support of you to process big emotions that they feel. It's

important to have a strong interest in the psychological aspect of why people do the things they

do and common triggers that are involved in this mental process. Kids often need to have a safe

space with someone who lets them be entirely vulnerable to them and their feelings. That is one

big thing I took away from this experience was that kids need to be heard and listened to just as

much as we think adults do. It was significant to explore why empathy is a non-negotiable piece

of working with at-risk youth and will consider how it promotes safety, security, and trauma-

informed care. I got to actively use empathy and compassion skills while communicating with all
youth at program in their day-to-day activities. While working with youth, I looked for

opportunities to do self-esteem building in my interactions with them; including helping them

use positive self-talk and reframing negative thinking.

I don’t have many recommendations for working with this company for my practicum

experience. Everyone was very open-minded and supportive when it came to communication.

Each Friday we would debrief the week and talk about what worked and what didn’t work. This

helped keep an open line of communication between all staff that made the experience improve

each week. We even did team building meetings to evaluate on a deeper level what the dynamic

of each location needed as kids were added and dropped from program.