Internship Programme: Impactful Training & Coaching
Beschrijving
Course goals
Learning goals
Upon completion of the programme, interns will have developed:
- Knowledge and insight into training delivery and design, learning processes, behaviour change, group dynamics, communication and coaching skills, reflective practice, evidence-based psychological intervention approaches, and professional ethics for psychologists.
- Training design skills, including collaboratively designing a workshop with a co-trainer.
- Training delivery skills, by providing training in professional communication skills within an academic context.
- Peer coaching competencies, such as applying goal-focused coaching techniques, conducting feedback conversations, and engaging in peer supervision.
- Professional competence development, including improvement of core conceptual, technical, and (inter)personal competencies as a training and coaching psychologist, and development as an academic professional.
- Reflective abilities, through ongoing personal and professional reflection on work performance and learning progress.
- Teamwork skills, involving professional collaboration and team-based working and learning.
- Career orientation, including identifying a personal mentor, participating in company visits and guest lectures, and developing a coherent career identity.
Relationship between learning goals and assessment
The overall and individual learning objectives of the internship are addressed during internship meetings and documented in the internship report. The final grade is determined by the supervisor’s assessment of the intern’s work performance, such as participation in and contributions to meetings and student evaluations, as well as the intern’s learning progress, as demonstrated through internship activities and reflected in the internship report.
Content
The internship programme Impactful Training & Coaching (IT&C) is one of the highest-rated internships within the Master’s programme Social, Health & Organisational Psychology (SHOP). This internal internship is available to a select group of approximately twelve SHOP master’s students.
Established in 1984, the programme was initiated by a group of students with a strong interest in experiential learning and a desire to develop the craft of training.
Interns in the IT&C programme work as junior trainers within the Department of Social, Health & Organisational Psychology. Their primary responsibility is to teach communication skills to bachelor’s students. The main objective of the IT&C programme is to support interns in developing into impact-oriented trainers and coaches who effectively use theory to understand, design, and guide their training and coaching activities.
The internship programme consists of two phases:
1. Preparatory phase (1st semester; 5 ECTS)
The preparatory phase provides interns with a strong foundation for their development as a trainer and coach. Interns will learn how to design and deliver engaging trainings, effectively intervene in group processes, coach students and peers, and give constructive, impactful feedback. Learning is highly experiential and interactive, combining hands-on practice with collaborative learning, and learning by teaching.
This phase starts with an exclusive and intensive one-week Summer School (pre-master week, late August/early September), followed by a Train-the-Trainer course Impactful Training & Coaching in teaching period 2. Throughout these courses, you will actively practise your skills in a safe learning environment while receiving feedback from peers and supervisors. Participation is limited to students who have been selected for the internship programme, ensuring a close-knit and highly engaged learning community.
2. Internship phase (2nd semester; 15 ECTS)
In the second semester, you put theory into practice by working as a trainer in the bachelor-level Psychology course on communication skills. In this role, you will gain real teaching experience and take responsibility for facilitating learning among bachelor students.
You will receive extensive supervision throughout the semester, focusing both on technical training skills and on your personal development as a trainer and coach. Supervision sessions offer structured opportunities to reflect on your experiences, discuss challenges, and further strengthen your professional identity.
The internship concludes with an internship report in which you reflect on your work performance and learning journey, in line with the guidelines of the Master’s programme Social, Health & Organisational Psychology. By the end of the programme, you will have developed strong practical skills, a reflective mindset, and a solid foundation for a career in training, coaching, or related professional fields.
Unique selling points
Compared to other internships, the IT&C programme stands out because of:
- A high level of responsibility: Interns are trusted to independently train and coach groups of students. This degree of responsibility is rarely offered to interns within professional training or consultancy organisations.
- Intensive supervision and training: Interns receive extensive guidance and high-quality training, resulting in a steep and well-supported learning curve.
- Close collaboration with peers: Working intensively with a small group of fellow interns creates a strong learning community and significantly enriches the learning experience.
- Strong career orientation: The programme offers multiple opportunities for career exploration and professional identity development, supporting interns in shaping their future careers.
- Access to a professional alumni network: Interns gain access to PION (Psychologists of Interventions in Organisations Network), a professional network of former IT&C interns that offers valuable opportunities for networking, learning, and career development.
Employment prospects
The IT&C programme has a strong track record in preparing master’s students for the labour market. Alumni of the programme have excellent employment prospects in fields such as skills training, coaching, consultancy, teaching, human resource development, and management traineeships within a wide range of organisations.
Contact and further information
Students who are interested in the IT&C programme are invited to contact dr. Richta IJntema at r.ijntema@uu.nl for further information.
Please note that the application deadline is early June, prior to the start of the master’s programme. As the internship is conducted in Dutch, the programme is only open to students who are fluent in Dutch.
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