Interns at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services offer students therapy and teach alternative methods of coping
By Lynn Rice
Oct. 12, 2011 1:07 a.m.
Danny Zamir, a psychology pre-doctoral intern, and Nicole Redzic, a visiting pre-doctoral psychology intern hold individual and group therapy sessions at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services. Redzic videotapes her sessions and later receives feedback from her supervisors.
Typical comforts of a therapist’s office, such as cushioned chairs and a tasteful painting, are present in Nicole Redzic’s office.
Less typically, a video camera is also present.
As part of her training as an intern at UCLA’s Counseling and Psychological Services, Redzic, a visiting pre-doctoral psychology student, videotapes each therapy session. Staff supervisors later review the tapes and provide feedback.
“At first, the camera was hard to ignore. It was strange thinking how I’m going to go back and analyze my sessions later,” Redzic said. “But I’ve gotten used to it.”
Redzic is one of four pre-doctoral interns spending a year in residence aiding UCLA students and among 10 interns at CAPS.
Many of the interns are visiting graduate students, drawn from around the country. Redzic comes from a consortium between Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and Stanford.
Redzic said most therapists have been on the other side of the table. For her, it’s important to be curious with the client and to think collaboratively to solve problems.
She said she changes her style to adapt to different clients. Interns field a broad range of concerns from the student body ““ over the course of a year, one in six students at UCLA will visit CAPS.
“Students come in with relationship issues, anxiety or depression ““ almost anything you could think of. The diversity here is hard to match,” said Amanda Stemen, a social work extern at CAPS.
For the interns, past experiences often influence clinical interests. Danny Zamir, a pre-doctoral psychology intern, spent much of his youth sailing with his parents.
During his travels, he said he was amazed at how much individuals’ mental states, more than their physical surroundings, affect their circumstances.
Zamir signed up to perform international relief work in Mauritania with the U.S. Peace Corps but ultimately chose to get a doctorate in psychology instead. He said in the long run, this degree leaves him with a greater expertise with which to make a difference.
He is interested in teaching people to develop positive coping skills, such as meditation, for problems like chronic pain. Zamir, who meditates several times a week, will be leading an outreach course on meditation.
Actively learning through real-life situations has helped interns learn about the details of counseling, Redzic said.
“Learning how to be a supervisor through experience is very valuable because that’s what I’ll be doing as soon as I leave here,” she said.
Redzic attended a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin. Coming to UCLA, she found students here are different from students she went to school with.
“Students here are really high achieving and the functioning is so good. They tend to think that their problems aren’t big enough,” Redzic said. “Just because someone is doing well in school doesn’t make their other problems any less serious, though.”
In addition to providing individual and group therapy, interns also offer workshops around campus on how to sleep better, procrastinate less and manage stress, for example, and participate in ongoing professional training.
Seeing a wide spectrum of students helps interns figure out where they’d like to specialize, Redzic said.
“We’re all generalists here,” she said. “That’s part of being in training.”
