Finding an Internship Overseas
Your Employment Questions Answered: Finding an Internship Overseas
Sometimes the best way to learn something new is by seeking advice from those who have been there. Asking questions is how we learn about new resources or can give us perspectives that we might never have thought about before. When you ask a question, you can gain the knowledge you are looking for that will help you figure out what you need to know to move forward, whatever the subject might be.
If you are working on a master’s degree program, or even a bachelor’s degree program, it may require an internship. If you are a military spouse stationed in CONUS, you can easily find an internship for your program. However, being stationed overseas can make it a bit more difficult. The good news is that there are ways to find internships overseas.
Question: How do I find an internship overseas?
I am a military spouse stationed in Japan and trying to finish my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in about a year. I have been looking around the base and the neighboring base for possible internship opportunities and haven’t had much luck. I need to find an internship for my degree as soon as possible, and it would need to be somewhere overseas as we are not due to PCS back to the states for a few years.
Answer:
What a great degree and congratulations on getting your master’s degree. There are some things you can do to try to find an internship. Hopefully, these can lead you in the right direction.
- Contact the med group on your base. They might have openings or connections.
- Contact the Family Advocacy Program. They could have some local ideas for you.
- Visit your education office. They are most likely familiar with people looking for internships.
- Check out the Mental Health MilSpouse Network by the National Military Family Association. They have contacts that can help, networking opportunities, and even possible job openings for you in the future.
- TELL. TELL is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to providing world-class, effective support and counseling services to Japan’s international community and helps to address the country’s growing mental health care needs. They offer workshops like this three-day Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship. This is virtual and available for licensed therapists and therapists in a qualifying program at the MA level and above.
- FOCUS Resilience Training. This was adopted for military families by a team from UCLA and Harvard Medical School in 2008. They provide state-of-the-art family resilience services to military families, children, and couples. They are located at designated Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force installations. It is offered to all military families through the DoD Office of Military Community Family Policy. In Japan you can find FOCUS at:
- The Red Cross. You can find the Red Cross everywhere and may be able to help you find a place to internship at.
- Ask in a local Facebook group. If you are in any local Facebook groups, ask in those as you never know who might be able to help you.
Being stationed overseas can be an amazing experience. However, you might not have access to all the things you need. With some research and investigation, you can most likely find an internship that will work for you, even being stationed in Japan.
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