Human Services Internship: Reflection and Analysis of Ch. 5-7

This document presents a student's reflections on their human services internship experience, focusing on chapters 5-7. The reflection covers various aspects such as the importance of understanding learning styles in supervision, the characteristics of an ideal field supervisor, and the qualities desired in a human services intern. It also assesses the quality of the student's own supervision, focusing on aspects like planning, preparation, and focus on professional issues. Furthermore, the reflection delves into communication skills observed within the organization, highlighting individuals with exemplary communication abilities and areas for improvement. Active listening is also explored as a crucial skill employed during the internship. The student identifies personal strengths and weaknesses as a communicator, providing a comprehensive overview of their internship experience and professional development.

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Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Subject
Human Services Internship Chapter 5-7
Chapter 5: #
5.2: What are your thoughts about focusing on learning styles in your supervision? How
important is it to you that your supervisor understands you preferred learning style? How
important is it to you that you understand your supervisor’s preferred earning style: How
do you feel about the idea of expanding your skills with various learning styles through
supervision?
Understanding learning styles and focusing on them is important since this shapes the
way the student will gain knowledge. Since some students dive into new experiences while
others take time to observe first, then the cognitive habits of the student are important in
determining how self-awareness can be used in enhancing the ability to learn (Kiser, 109). On
the other hand, understanding the learning style of the supervisor is important in ensuring that the
student gains the right experience since the learning style of the supervisor defines the behavioral
styles within the organization. Since most professionals in the same profession seem to have
similar learning styles, then the style of the supervisor becomes important in shaping the learner.
According to Kolb, interns need to develop learning styles by emulating their supervisors and
also working on their own styles to improve their knowledge. This means that through concrete
experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, the
learner needs to involve themselves knowing the different learning styles like accommodating
and diverging need to be mastered by the student and applied in different settings. As a human

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services profession, expanding skills with various learning styles through supervision is
important since this profession requires individuals who are diverse in learning styles that can be
applied in different situations. Thus this implies that the learner has to focus on gaining the right
skills using various learning styles to develop diverse abilities from the environment and their
supervisors thus having the best abilities in the profession.
5.3: what characteristics do you consider to be ideal in a field supervisor? What hopes and
expectations do you have about the type of supervisor that you will receive in your
internship? What particular concerns or worries do you have about your supervision?
What specific requests, if any would you like to make to your supervisor?
I believe that an effective supervisor needs to have skills that are beyond the position that
one holds that can make others learn and develop personal abilities through coaching, directing
and even emulation. My ideal supervisor needs to be knowledgeable, supportive and skillful in
addressing the issues that arise. Since the supervisor is acting as both a mentor and a leader, then
it means that the two roles must be always intertwine when interacting with the learner at all
times (Kiser, 141). This calls for good communication skills that the supervisor needs to have to
be able to share the knowledge and experience with the student and find a way of developing the
ability of the student. The supervisor needs to also have leadership abilities that are key to
ensuring that there is a transfer of knowledge from the supervisor to the learner. Thus the only
concern that I have is whether the supervisor will be able to understand my learning abilities and
use the knowledge and experience developed throughout the years of work will be transformed
to a learning environment that will be able to assist me to develop the required skills.
5.4: Imagine that you are a field instructor supervising a human services intern. What
characteristics would you like to see in the students you are supervising?

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As a supervisor, one of the most relevant skills that I require in an intern is initiative. This
is based on the ability of the individual to be willing to learn by showing potential and
willingness to learn. Communication skills are also important since they are required in relating
to the supervisor and even other colleagues that one will be working with. This means that
communication skills will be used to seek information and clarity in areas which are not clear
(Kiser, 142). The intern also needs to have adaptability skills which are important in shifting
from one environment to another. The internship is a transition period, which requires the student
to have good adaptability skills that can be relevant in ensuring that the intern is able to quickly
stabilize in every environment that changes. Since the internship period is based on onboarding
the student, then it means that the intern should also be able to quickly adapt to different
environments that are presented and use them to learn and improve their career. Thus I would
like the student to relate to me in a learning environment rather than a boss-subordinate
relationship. This means that the student is required to view the supervisor as a mentor or role
model who needs to be emulated. Thus the relationship that exists between the student and the
supervisor affects the type of knowledge that the student gathers and gains throughout the
internship process.
For students that are not doing well, I will be mostly concerned with poor communication
skills and lack of adaptability. Communication skills are vital in exchange for information
whether verbal or non-verbal. This means that if the student lacks communication skills, then
there are challenges in relating to other people within the work environment (Dailey, 461). Since
the internship is a hands-on learning environment, then the student needs to clearly communicate
through processing information and giving feedback. Another trait that I will be concerned with
is the lack of adaptability skills which are relevant in adjusting from one environment or

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situation to another. Adaptability skills assist the student to quickly adjust to situations that are
presented without straining. Quick adapters have better chances of learning since they are able to
transform themselves from the student form to the intern form which requires the application of
knowledge gathered in class.
As a supervisor, I will be accountable for the performance of the student through
ensuring that their set objectives are achieved. This means that when students are sent out by
their institutions for an internship, there are several objectives that need to be met and indicators
that can be measured to test the assessment of the intern. Since a supervisor can enhance or
sabotage the internship process of the student, the qualities that the supervisor brings to the
relationship and the manner in which the student communicates is critical to the success of the
student.
5.5: the discussion above has described what high quality supervision entails. Consider
each of the key points in that discussion, examine and asses your own supervision. To what
extent is your supervision?
Planned and systematic
Planned contact entails meeting the intern on a one-to-one basis in a systematic manner
(Kiser, 147). This means that the supervisor needs to have a clear schedule on how to meet the
intern to review the progress and address issues of concern. To meet the planned and systematic
supervision, the supervisor meets with the intern every Monday morning to review the activities
and progress of the previous week and at the same time set targets and requirements for the new
week. This assists both the supervisor and the intern to address challenges that the student faces
and at the same time allow the supervisor to address weaknesses noted in the student.
Prepared for

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According to Kiser (147), this entails that the supervisor needs to prepare and allocate
specific time for the supervision of the intern. Since having an intern does not change the roles of
the supervisor but rather calls for the need to allocate time to the needs and concerns of the
student. This involves creating time to review the progress of the intern and arranging a meeting
with the intern and addressing any issues that may affect the progress of the learner. Further, this
process is continuous since the supervisor has to interact with the student as long as the student is
still on internship.
Focused on professional issues
The supervision process is a professional learning process for the intern where the
supervisor is a role model in the manner in which he/she handles professional issues. This means
that the supervisor needs to be on the forefront by exercising high professionalism by applying
the relevant standards within the work environment for the learner to follow.
Focused on planning
Planning is a foresight element that every leader needs to have. As a supervisor who is
assisting an intern student to learn and apply course knowledge. Planning is important since it
assists the intern to be prepared psychologically for the tasks ahead. This can include allowing
time for research and raising any relevant issues. Planning also ensures that the intern is engaged
at all times since they are able to focus on future activities. Therefore, being focused on planning
benefits the intern by ensuring that relevant activities are allocated that relate to learning and the
intern has adequate time to review the requirements of each activity to know how it meets their
needs.
Chapter 6:

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6.2 working in a human service organization as an intern, you probably have numerous
opportunities to observe the communication of many staff members throughout the day.
Who do you find to be a particularly good communicate? What aspects of this person’s
communication do you admire?
The person that I admire most is the senior secretary of the Maine Immigration and
refugee services who seems to have the best communication skills. Two common
communication skills are relevant in the secretary, active listening and attention to detail.
Inactive listening the individual uses verbal and non-verbal skills through being fully engaged,
focused and concentrating on the speaker (Kiser, 159). This is seen from eye contact and
maintaining a relaxed posture which makes other people feel comfortable. Attention to detail
entails taking in everything and synthesizing it to determine what is relevant and what is not
rather than being biased and ignoring other details.
Is there anyone who, in your opinion needs to strengthen her or his communication skills?
What particular aspects of this person’s communication needs to be modified in your view?
Values and attitudes? Non-verbal communication? Verbal communication?
On the other hand, I think the deputy case officer Maine Immigration and refugee
services needs to strengthen his interpersonal communication since he has problems establishing
relationships with people especially those on the lower ranks in the organization. This calls for
the need to reduce the rigidness in approaching work-related issues due to viewing work from a
mechanical structure point of view. Through addressing interpersonal communication skills, the
verbal and non-verbal elements like peoples skills will be developed.
How do you think others in the organization might describe you as a communicator? What
strengths and weaknesses might your co-workers attribute to you as a communicator?

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From the organization, I think I can be described as a good communicator through oral
communication. As an oral communicator, I have the ability to combine both verbal and non-
verbal traits of communication to be able to relate well with others. This is based on accurately
pairing both the body language and the verbal communication being made. I am also a good
listener with active listening skills during conversations. In communication skills, active
listening is relevant in gathering the required information to be able to process and make the
right decision.
6.3: in your internship, how do you see the skill of active listening employed?
According to Kiser (160), active listening entails full concentration, understanding,
responding and remembering what is being said. In most cases, this is common during briefing
sessions in the organization. Here one person is supposed to speak without being interfered and
once done, the other person responds as required. This means that during meetings and briefing,
the listener also focusses on the speaker’s behavior and body language so that meanings can be
interpreted from what is being communicated. If the listener wants to respond to the speaker
during the meeting or briefing, listeners need to only restate their understanding of the
impression that the message sender was portraying.
To what extent are you practicing the skills of active listening in your work?
As an individual, I am practicing active listening when talking to clients and fellow
employees within the organization. As someone working with translation and case work, active
listening is an important element of this job since we deal with different client who have varying
accents that require one to actively listen and at the same time pair the non0eerbal with the
verbal to get the message. Through applying different degrees of active listening, I am able to

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achieve different qualities of communication which in turn increases the ability to communicate
with others and the quality of information that is gathered or shared.
What factors might hinder your ability to be an active listener in your internship?
There are several barriers to active listening within a communication setting. One
common barrier to active listening is trigger words which make one rush to make the judgment
about what the speaker wants to say. The fact that we are dealing with issues of translation
means that one can easily be prompted to use trigger words instead of asking the client to repeat.
Another barrier is the limited attention span which can make one give up the active listening and
decide to use ambushing as a way of getting irritated from the active listening process. Lastly,
there can be challenges in understanding the verbal cues or the body language of the speaker. In
active listening, non-verbal cues are important in ensuring that the listener gets the right
information from what the speaker is communicating.
How might these challenges be overcome?
One way to overcome the barriers to active listening is to practice through the use of
other non-speaker related items like music. Through listening to music one can learn how to
develop active listening by ensuring that they allow the music to play nonstop until the end.
Secondly, learning the meaning of non-verbal cues can be an important element in overcoming
the barriers to active listening. This means that the listener can learn the meaning of each cue so
that when the speaker applies each of them, it becomes easy to understand them.
6.6: what theoretical approaches to helping do you observe in use in your field site? Does
the organization have a coherent and consistent approach that all workers use? If so what
are the key conceptual components of that approach? Is there room for individual
variations in the helping approaches of various professionals? If so what variations in

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approach do you observe? What do you observe in yourself as you react to the theoretical
approaches you are encountering? How do you describe your own personal theoretical
orientation at this point? What changes might you need to work toward to bring your work
into better alignment with the prevailing approach in your organization?
One theory that I have observed being used in the organization is the problem-solving
approach which focusses on assisting people to find solutions to their problems through teaching
them to develop solutions for their problem. In solving the problems that the clients have, the
following methods are used: abstraction, analogy, brainstorming, divide and conquer, the method
of focal objects, root cause analysis, and trial-and-error. The organization relies on the problem-
solving approach because this is the best method for empowering clients to own their own
problems. The approach works well since it focusses on the issues of the client to develop
solutions for the problems that they face. Individual variations in problem-solving is applied in
the information gathering stage where the professional had the freedom to explore different
communication skills to gather the necessary information from the client. As a human services
intern, I am familiar with the problem-solving approach since I have applied it severally in
casework issues. However, I need to study well how the approach is applied here since my
previous internship was in a hospital which presents different client related issues. .
6.10 What groups have you had the opportunity to observe, lead or participate in during
your internship? Consider staff groups and clients, what examples do you see of group
structure and development discussed in this chapter?
In the internship, I have managed to lead a group of fellow interns in a case issue that we
had been assigned to investigate a case of different immigrants who had come in through the
church. This means that they was need to establish their legality of existence and determining

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whether they needed any assistance from Maine Immigration and refugee services. From the
group situation, the group went through the stages of forming, norming, performing and
adjourning since we did not have much time to portray the norming group dynamics. Initially
group dynamics were evident in the initial stages where members were not used to working with
each other, blocking and ambushing were evident in the communication within the group.
However, as members got to know each other and started connecting well through establishing
bonds. They later entered the performing stage with better communication strategies like linking
which allowed the members to connect very well.
When have you used the communication skills described above?
The common communication skills were linking and blocking. Initially during the formation and
the norming stages, tension was high within the group and most members were using the
blocking approach as a way of ensuring that little information was known about their abilities
and responses towards different situation. This means that I was always intervening when I
realized that the speaker was invading my personal space or was presenting a situation which
could be challenging. However, as we engaged with members and the group entered the storming
stage, I found myself connecting well with the members and thus linking was quite useful since I
was starting to connect with the members and information and feedback were flowing clearly
between the members.
What do you see as your strength in working with groups?
One strength that I saw in working with groups is the quality of decision making. This
because in teamwork, the best decision is developed by using the input of all the members to
develop a process that clearly meets the needs of the organization. Further, there is shared

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responsibility which leads to increased outcomes since tasks can be quickly shared out among
the group members.
What are your goals for future improvement in working with groups?
My future goal of working with the team is developing better teamwork and team cohesion.
Teamwork entails sharing out tasks with the team clearly while cohesion is based on the
connection between the individual and the entire team. For a team to be effective, there must be
clear cohesion and teamwork which allows members to clearly express their potential.
Chapter 7:
7.1: you have probably had the opportunity to observe and work with individuals
representing a wide range of human differences and cultural groups during your field
experience. The exercise will help you develop a clearer picture of this diversity. Using the
prompts below as your starting point, describe the population with which you are working
with during your field experience.
During my internship, I worked with people of different ages, racial groups, gender, and religion.
Diversity acknowledges that there are different groups within the society that professionals need
to recognize. The nature of the organization that I was working for Maine Immigration and
refugee services presented different nature of clients with varying problems that they had which
needed to be solved. Such groups present varying needs and concerns that cannot be addressed at
the group level but rather an individual level. For example, the old and the aged may have
different social welfare views while men and women will have different approaches to problem-
solving. On the other hand, racial and religious differences can create different perceptions that
people have towards others requiring the practitioner to mediate between the needs of the group
and the needs of the individual. Thus as a practitioner, I was supposed to balance and at the same

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time accommodate the specific needs of each group making it easy for the different diverse
individuals to get along. Thus the differences in the people arise from both physical, social,
psychological and emotional characteristics that make people different from each other.
7.3: below are listed some commonly cited cultural variables-that is some important
component of culture that vary from one group to another. Although you might not have
observed all of these variables during your internship, you probably have observed some of
them. Which of these cultural variables have you been able to observe in your internship?
During the internship with the diverse groups of people, I was also able to note that the people
had different cultural variables that defined them. The common variables were communication
and language, religious and sense of self. I have to admit that the sense of self and religion were
the most challenging variables because each group seemed to have varying views and
expectations. The individuals with the sense of self had the view that they required autonomy
and had no responsibility to others. Such people had challenges solving their issues in group
situations since they believed in approaching issues the way they wanted. This means that when
grouped together, their autonomy disappears thus making it difficult for them to feel
comfortable. Further, the religious group viewed their religion as superior and were more
comfortable if any approach to handling issues was based on their religion rather than taking a
universal approach. Further, communication and language differences made it difficult to handle
group issues since language is a cultural element that is best understood from the way the people
approach issues in life. This means that each language group has its own cultural connotations
that are relevant during communication. Thus when translating from one language to another, the
cultural implications of some statements can be distorted thus making it difficult to have clear
meanings.