Fieldwork & Internships

This agency provides a variety of services to young children, including the early intervention age group of birth to 3 years and the preschool age group which is 3 to 5 years. The staff includes a school psychologist, special education teachers, speech pathologist, physical and occupational therapists, counselors and aides. The program serves children (birth to 5) who have a variety of challenges, including developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, behavioral problems, intellectual disabilities, as well as their families.

Adirondack Helping Hands is open Monday through Friday from 8:40 a.m. – 1:40 p.m. (*important consideration for choosing your number of credits to take) and the office is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

This school consists of kindergarten through 12th grade. Interns can work individually with children who may be at risk for academic or social difficulties, and can assist the school psychologist in facilitating group sessions with children as well. Interns can help children in the classroom setting or do behavioral observations of children in the classroom to assist the school psychologist. Interns may also shadow the school counselor.

Clinton County DSS provides several diverse services in the community for a variety of client groups. Undergraduate interns have usually been placed in the preventive unit where they shadow caseworkers on home visits, observe meetings with families and other service providers or school staff, assist clients with transportation to appointments, and more. 

Interns will work in a preschool classroom along with the teacher and aide. The Headstart program works with children who can benefit from an intensive preschool experience. Headstart centers are in the city of Plattsburgh and surrounding communities.

Momot serves children in Plattsburgh in grades pre-K through grade 5. Interns could be assisting in classroom settings and observing staff meetings with school psychologists and staff.   

Students are trained and supervised to help teach 6- to 16-year-old children, who have been diagnosed with high-functioning autism, the social skills they need to get along with peers and adults. The program runs on campus on Saturday afternoons. This placement can only provide one credit. 

North Country Kids is an early intervention setting for children aged birth to 5. The staff includes a school psychologist, special education teachers, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and more. North Country Kids emphasizes applied behavior analysis approaches for young children with behavioral difficulties (in contrast to Adirondack Helping Hands who use other forms of intervention). Interns will likely work sometime between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on weekdays.

Interns work with children aged 4 – 8 years (grades K through 2) at Thomas Glasgow Elementary (formerly Bailey Ave. Elementary). Interns work primarily with the child advocate (a school counselor by training), and work with young children on an individual basis or in groups for social skills lessons and other forms of early school-based interventions.

The Advocacy and Resource Center serves adults who are developmentally disabled as well as some clients with psychiatric and physical disabilities. The intern’s objective will be to increase these clients’ spontaneous engagement in meaningful activities while at the community residence. Direct on-site supervision of the student will be provided at all times. A one-day orientation and training program will be required. Interns may participate in other agency-sponsored training programs as deemed appropriate.  

An internship with the adult mental health unit provides the opportunity for the intern to observe the daily duties of the treatment team. Interns may observe, where appropriate, daily patient assessments conducted by the staff psychiatrists or other mental health staff, family meetings, consultations with other service providers on inpatient cases, group counseling sessions, and treatment team rounds on the unit. This placement is typically for six hours per week at most, and during the day. 

Interns will typically be assigned to one or two probation officers for direct supervision. There are three units within the probation department: two criminal units and one unit for juvenile diversion programming and Family Court. Interns perform a variety of tasks, including but not limited to meeting with individual clients who are on probation, family members and other treatment providers. Interns are sometimes able to accompany probation officers in the field for home visits, court proceedings, etc. Interns assist with regular reports on client progress and other record-keeping tasks required of probation officers. Ideally, interns should be able to commit a minimum of 15 hours per week for this internship.

Interns can work with the social worker conducting structured assessments of the elderly residents in the nursing home and sit in on family conferences. Interns can also assist with the activity programs at Meadowbrook that offer all residents an opportunity to participate in a variety of activities at all levels of proficiency. Activities are offered on an individual, small, and large group basis. Interns can interact one-on-one with residents as well as participate with residents in group activities such as crafts, socials, and games. Previous interns have also been able to shadow occupational therapists when they have expressed interest in that career field.

The PROS Learning Center is a comprehensive recovery oriented program for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. PROS stands for Personalized Recovery Oriented Services. The goal of the program is to integrate treatment, support, and rehabilitation to facilitate the individual's recovery, including efforts to reduce utilization of inpatient treatment, increase employment, pursue education, secure preferred housing, etc. Undergraduate interns can learn about service delivery within a psychiatric rehabilitation model. Most program services are offered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. so interns would need to be available during those hours, and will negotiate their schedule with the placement supervisor.

The STOP Domestic Violence program deals with clients, the vast majority of whom are women, who have been physically abused by their partners. It provides counseling, crisis management, a safe house away from the abuser, child care, referral to a physician, and any other help the client may need. Support and encouragement as well as counseling are given to help victims resolve the abusive situation. Interns will go through the program’s volunteer training prior to beginning their duties. Students interested in forensic psychology could consider this placement as it provides a victim’s point of view on the criminal justice system, and interns often observe court proceedings. This placement requires 10 hours per week.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Center is part of the Center for Neurobehavioral Health on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus, located in Sibley Hall. The program serves adults with a history of traumatic brain injury. The program includes social and recreational activities, life skills training, and cognitive rehabilitation training. Interns can observe and contribute to several of these activities with the program participants. This program runs during the day Monday through Friday.