“Helping, seeing, and knowing different people through my practicum placements has been a huge gift. Seeing people become connected, receive help, and experience healing brings me joy like nothing else does.”
— Whitney Klassen, BA Psychology with Human Services certificate
This past semester, Whitney Klassen helped to develop and lead a women’s group therapy session at Wagner Hills Farm Society on overcoming shame. Her session included a short teaching component and an art therapy activity based around the theme of “bringing shame messages into the light to counter them with truth.”
Whitney is in TWU's Human Services certificate program, where students in the program complete a supervised practicum within a community or social agency related to the students’ interests or future career plans.
Whitney shares, "Being able to complete practicums through TWU’s Human Services certificate program has not only equipped me for further steps, but has transformed my interest in helping into a calling I am passionate about."
“Helping, seeing, and knowing different people through my practicum placements has been a huge gift," she continued. "Seeing people become connected, receive help, and experience healing brings me joy like nothing else does.”
Through her practicum experience, Whitney learned how affirmation received within community can bring healing. Her experience has given her a greater sense of excitement as she looks forward to stepping into this field of work full time.
“Knowing that these families were coming from dangerous and devastating circumstances and yet they still opened up their homes to me, fed me and showed me so much care and love was inspiring. Even though I was there to help and serve that organization in whatever capacity I could, I felt that I ended up being cared for and served.”
— Emily DaSilva, BA Psychology with Human Services certificate
Students create solutions for local teams and NGOs
After practicum students are matched with a team or organization, they carefully observe their practicum environment to discover problems to solve or areas of unmet need. They then work on coming up with creative solutions and implementing their ideas. The outcome is that local organizations receive practical help and support in advancing their work in society, while students gain first-hand field experience and learn a variety of workplace skills.
Solutions that students created at their practicum placements this Spring semester included training manuals, workshop materials, flyers, websites, slide presentations, and digital tools to organize and share information.
Emily DaSilva served at New Hope Community Services, which supports refugees during their transition to Canada. Emily helped to develop a document that describes the organization’s work and updated their website. Through this, she learned how to streamline information. Moreover, working at New Hope highlighted for her the importance of strong community and hospitality.
“Knowing that these families were coming from dangerous and devastating circumstances and yet they still opened up their homes to me, fed me and showed me so much care and love was inspiring,” she reflected. “Even though I was there to help and serve that organization in whatever capacity I could, I felt that I ended up being cared for and served.”
What gave Emily the most joy and satisfaction was witnessing the excitement of families as they came to the centre and hearing the children’s laughter during kids club.
“Through fractured conversations because of some language barriers, relationships and connections were formed and I can only chalk that up to God working miraculously at New Hope, by way of the Holy Spirit," Emily shares. "The hope that you feel when you walk into that building is so tangible, and the love and care you will receive is truly Christ-like.”
Helping hearts and minds through education and counselling
Michaela Richards created a leader and a participant manual for missions teams that are being trained to serve in Colombia. She expressed that she felt a great sense of satisfaction having produced something tangible that will benefit others. The organization that she helped, Seeds of Love and Hope International Society, provides mentorship for school-aged children with the aim of keeping students in school. What’s more, the organization fosters a particular approach to missions—that of serving (instead of “saving”) people—and holds a distinctive view of poverty, as Michaela explains, “Everyone has poverty in their lives; knowing this helps us to see one another equally.”
Nathaniel Johnson completed his practicum at Panorama Wellness Group, where he created counselling workshop materials that explained anxiety, depression, emotions, and mindfulness. These materials provided new resources for counsellors to use in guiding discussions with their clients. At Child and Youth Mental Health in Abbotsford, Sydney Nolan served on an eating disorders council. She listened to many clinicians talk about needs they faced when helping their clients, and together with her team, she brainstormed how to meet these challenges. Following this, Sydney developed a handout to highlight the impact of nutrition on a person’s mood. Using the handout she developed, she later presented the knowledge to a client and explained the benefits of eating well throughout the day.
“Working with children brings me joy, so the opportunity to work with children with developmental disabilities was a right fit for me... Children’s joy is indescribable, and watching their growth is a rewarding experience.”
— Dana Friesen, BA Psychology with Human Services certificate
Seeing people grow and develop
Caithlee Traut helped to update a communications tool for Josh, a TWU student who is nonverbal and who relies on an app, TouchChat, to communicate. Caithlee worked together with Josh to program and expand the categories, vocabulary and options available on the app and tailor it to Josh’s needs.
Both Francesca De Chavez and Dana Friesen served with organizations that support children with autism. Francesca updated a resource bin for children while Dana adapted “zones of regulation” materials for teaching.
Dana was thrilled with her practicum experiences, which provided a hands-on opportunity to apply classroom knowledge within a human services working environment. Her work involved building rapport with clients through fun activities while implementing curriculums and programs developed by a behaviour analyst.
“Working with children brings me joy, so the opportunity to work with children with developmental disabilities was a right fit for me,” Dana said. “Children’s joy is indescribable, and watching their growth is a rewarding experience.”
She adds, “I have appreciated my practicum and all it has taught me about flexibility, professionalism, and appreciation, which are all traits I hope to carry into my professional career as I move forward in future endeavours.”
About TWU's Human Services certificate
The Human Services certificate provides students with the opportunity to experience a wide range of courses in the social sciences, psychology, and sociology programs, preparing students for the helping professions. Learn more at TWU Human Services.
See also — In the field of Human Services, alum Samuel Ko practices listening and patience while supporting people to grow in their independence:
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About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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The views expressed by students and alumni are their own. They do not necessarily represent the views of Trinity Western University or of any other companies, groups or organizations named.