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THE PESA POST
The latest news, views and announcements from
Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action

October 13, 2022
FALLING LEAVES, CRISP AIR … IT MUST BE NEW-INTERN SEASON
Eager college students flock to PESA to learn important professional skills
Residents of Southern California know that the change of seasons is subtle in our region. However, one sure sign of fall’s return, here at PESA, anyway, is the arrival of a new cohort of fresh-faced Bachelor’s of Social Work and Master’s of Social Work interns. This academic year, PESA is fortunate to have six of the former and 25 of the latter, and our programs are uniquely tailored to each.

Our MSW interns have already jumped into their roles providing youth with counseling services as well as developing activities, arts and crafts projects and presentations to support students in diverse ways. 

“We’ve started to assign our diverted youth to the MSW interns to begin case management,” says PESA Director Cindy Henriquez. “They have begun checking in with these youth weekly, prior to their Teen Court sessions.” 

The interns are also conducting family counseling sessions with other interns’ clients, in line with the principles set out by the National Association of Social Worker’s code of ethics which states that, “Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients.” We take every precaution to ensure that we are not putting our clients in a situation that may be detrimental in any way. 

“Some of our interns are doing macro work as well,” says Henriquez. “One has researched and gathered multiple therapy intervention resources,” which can be shared with their peers to learn from and add to.

Then, come January when the MSW interns have more experience, they will start holding support groups for diverted youth and others that focus on issues such as anger management and coping skills.

At PESA, we believe mentoring is equally important for mentees and mentors, and as such, our BSW interns will be mentored by MSW interns during the time that they are at PESA together. 

“BSWs are an integral part of our process at PESA,” says PESA field instructor Anil Arora, “because they have the unique opportunity to conduct case management and psychoeducation with clients. BSW interns will also provide tutoring for students who tend to exhibit behavioral challenges or difficulty with emotional regulation. This is a dual opportunity to support with daily living skills and the social emotional support a BSW can provide through psychoeducation and case management.”

And of course, the interns themselves are learning and growing throughout the program. “Many times we get BSW students trying to figure out their career paths, and this gives them the opportunity to understand the many hats social workers wear,” says Arora. “Overall, the BSW and first-year MSW interns come in with raw skills that we support. The second-year MSW students really take off and show up to support these families and individuals. All our interns are fantastic at advocating and making sure families have the resources they need. They don't just look solely at mental health, but they look at the bio-psycho-social aspect of each individual and family. That is what makes PESA interns special.” ■

If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.