COVID-19 and its impact on the school psychology internship

ABSTRACT

School psychologists and their interns were required to adapt their practices and the delivery of comprehensive school psychological services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With an already existing gap in the literature regarding supervision in school psychology, an even larger gap exists due to COVID-19. The present study aimed to promote a better understanding about how university training programs prepared school psychology interns during the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020-2021 academic year to develop competency along the 10 domains of practice listed in the NASP (2020) Practice Model. Ten participants from NASP-approved school psychology training programs were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol to gain an understanding of the commonalities of how they prepared interns during the COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis was conducted and revealed six overarching themes that, when put together, tell a story about COVID-19's effect on the school psychology internship. The themes are represented with direct quotes from participants: (1) "They had such an unusual and highly disrupted experience," (2) "We did whatever we needed to do to make it work," (3) "While very different, it still mimicked the original plan," (4) "We had to support them as they navigated these challenges," (5) "I think we're talking more than ever about mental health," and (6) "It's not all bad." This study adds to the literature on supervision in school psychology and is also one of the first studies to address the impact of COVID-19 on the school psychology internship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)