PSY Undergrad Internship Spotlight: Albiona Beka

July 9, 2024 - Shelly DeJong

The Department of Psychology is proud to celebrate our undergraduate psychology majors who are interning this summer across the country! 

Meet Albiona Beka, a psychology major interning at Origami Rehabilitation Center, a facility that treats clients who have sustained brain injuries. As a clinical intern, Albiona takes part in client interaction with the residential and outpatient programs and has also observed therapy and shadowed a physiatrist. Read on to learn more about Albiona's internship experience.  

 

 

What drew you to psychology originally?  

For as long as I can remember I had always had an immense interest in how the brain worked, especially how its overarching functions played a huge role in social interactions and the formation of the self.  

Where are you interning and what do they do there?  

I am a clinical intern at Origami Rehabilitation Center. This rehabilitation center is specifically a facility where they mainly treat clients that have sustained brain injuries. Origami uses an interdisciplinary approach when it comes to treating and aiding clients with brain injuries. For example, some of the professions that work to meet certain goals with clients range from clinical nurses, speech language pathologists, limited and fully licensed counselors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychiatrist, physiatrist, and the list goes on.  

What kind of things are you doing at this internship? 

A lot of what I do here is take part in client interaction with the residential and outpatient program, where I mainly take part in therapeutic activities and social engagement. I also work on various clinical projects where I take on different sorts of article research assignments. I recently took part in some therapy observation with disciplines such as speech language pathology and occupational therapy. I also am on the premedical track, so I have been able to secure some doctor shadowing with the physiatrist here!  

What do you like most about your internship? 

I love the ability to work with residents here and learning the importance of building rapport with clients. A plus is that you can gain some experience with a clinical environment where you are interacting with all types of clients at different stages of their recovery.  

Do you have advice for others looking for an internship? 

My advice to others looking for an internship is firstly start searching early in the fall so that you can give yourself some time to get a feel for what type of internship you might want. I would also strongly recommend just searching up internships in your area consistently because internships WILL show up and you want to jump an opportunity that's right for you as soon as possible! 

What are your hopes for the future? 

I am currently on the premedical track and have hopes of applying to medical school my senior year. Ideally, I would like to do some research on the side apart from wanting to become a psychiatrist in the future.