Internships

Students are responsible for finding a suitable site for conducting their internship. Most students complete their internship during the summer months. Some also find opportunities during the academic year within the Gettysburg Community. Many internships are unpaid, but there are some that offer a salary, stipend, or cover living expenses. Planning is important when setting up an internship. Research and application should begin the semester before an internship will take place. For summer internships, students should consider exploring potential internship opportunities during the Winter Break or the early weeks of the spring semester.

How to find an internship:

1. Search online job boards (Use criteria search “internship,” “psychology internship,” and/or “mental health internship”)

2. Search internship-specific job boards

3. Search psychology-specific internship boards

4. Social Media – LinkedIn

5. Check bulletin board postings outside the Psychology Department suite

6. Examples of internships (PDF) available to psychology students broken down by region. This is not a comprehensive list.

7. Search within your hometown. Look at websites of teaching or research hospitals, research agencies, local colleges and universities, mental health clinics, rehabilitation centers, and non-profit organizations. Sometimes there is an "internship/volunteer" link within a website. If you locate a highly desirable site but it doesn't offer an internship, explore possible volunteer options.

8. The Center for Career Engagement Office at Gettysburg College.

9. Faculty and alumni. We maintain a “Recent and Past Alumni” bulletin board (outside Psychology Dept. suite) that provides a listing of where Psychology alums are working or attending graduate school. Reach out to an alum who works in the field of psychology and inquire about possible internship options or even a job shadowing experience.

10. Look where past Psychology majors have interned. Recent examples include:

  • Danville State Hospital - Danville, PA
  • New England Center for Children - Southborough, MA
  • Haven Behavioral Health – Reading, PA
  • Research Opportunity Program – Michigan University
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
  • Division of Bipolar Disorder Research – University of Cincinnati
  • APEX Camp – UW Autism Center – Seattle, WA
  • PACE Center for Girls – Gainsville, FL
  • Parity Partners – New York, NY
  • Digital Media Sales Intern at CoxRep & Gamut – New York, NY

To Receive Credit:

There is an option of earning credit (or half credit) for your internship. Internships do not count toward the minimum requirement for the major, but do count as an elective toward graduation. Internships are graded S/U. Students can complete their internship over the summer of during the academic year. The course code is PSY 473 or PSY 477 (half-credit).

To receive credit, the following requirements must be met:

  1. The internship consists of a minimum of 160 hours (80 hours for half credit) of on-the-job experience in a mental health, human resources, or research position. It must be related to psychology.
  2. It has to be approved by Prof. Katherine Delaney, Psychology Department Internship Coordinator. Please email Prof. Delaney to set up a meeting.
  3. Once you have been offered and have accepted an internship, you need to login to the Student Center and complete a For-Credit Learning Contract. If you have problems/questions about the registration process, please contact the Center for Career Engagement. The Learning Contract needs to be completed at least two weeks before the end of the semester preceding the internship.
  4. You are required to complete the internship requirements as established by the Center for Career Engagement.
  5. In addition, you are require to complete a daily journal of your activities at the internship. This is to be turned in to the Internship Coordinator at the end of your internship.
  6. You must complete a 15-page (8-page for half credit) literature paper. In this paper, you should review empirical research in psychology on a topic that is related to your internship experience. You have to have your topic approved by the Internship Coordinator by the end of your first month at your internship. The research paper is due at the end of your internship. If you are completing a summer internship, the paper needs to be handed in by the end of the second week of the fall semester.
  7. The Internship Coordinator will email you handouts regarding the Psychology Internship requirements and guidelines for the research paper prior to the start of the internship.

Upon completion of the above requirements, academic credit will be applied to your transcript for the semester in which you completed the internship. When doing a summer internship, academic credit is applied to your transcript the following fall semester or spring semester if you are studying abroad in the fall.

Non-Credit Internships (“College Approved Internships”):

Once you have been offered and have accepted an internship, you need to login to the Student Center and complete the “College-Approved Learning Contract.”

Internship Funding:

Learn more information on how to apply for funding.

International Students:

Read information regarding the policies on participating in an internship (PDF).