Revision [937]
Last edited on 2006-09-13 14:27:31 by ChrisOconnorAdditions:
My name I Chris O'Connor and I did my practicum over the summer through Compeer. Compeer for those of you that do not know is an agency that matches children and adults you suffer from a variety of mental disorders with volunteers in the community to be a friend to these people in there time of need. I myself was matched with a 14 year old boy who has adjustment problems from being moved around frequently and has had little time to develop appropriate social skills with people his age. Although my Internship hours are over I have continued being this childs friend as I have found it to be a truly rewarding experience seeing how much of a difference it makes just being there for someone when they don't have anyone else.
In addition to doing the mentoring which is great hands on experience for anyone who wants to go into a field of human service, I also do half of my hours actually working as an intern in the Compeer office. This gave me a greater understanding of the agency itself. While there I assisted in some of the case managing tasks and assisted in the interview processi for matching other volunteers with clients. I also did montly phone calls to volunteers to make sure that the matches were still in good standing and that there were no concerns that the volunteers had for their compeer friends. When there was a problem we took the necessary steps in alerting the therapists and families so that the problems could be properly adressed.
I found working at Compeer to be a great practicum as it gave me a broder perspective of jobs that are open to people who persue careers in psychology and social work. I would highly recommend Compeer to by considered by anyone who is looking for a place to complete their practicum.
In addition to doing the mentoring which is great hands on experience for anyone who wants to go into a field of human service, I also do half of my hours actually working as an intern in the Compeer office. This gave me a greater understanding of the agency itself. While there I assisted in some of the case managing tasks and assisted in the interview processi for matching other volunteers with clients. I also did montly phone calls to volunteers to make sure that the matches were still in good standing and that there were no concerns that the volunteers had for their compeer friends. When there was a problem we took the necessary steps in alerting the therapists and families so that the problems could be properly adressed.
I found working at Compeer to be a great practicum as it gave me a broder perspective of jobs that are open to people who persue careers in psychology and social work. I would highly recommend Compeer to by considered by anyone who is looking for a place to complete their practicum.
