Supervised curricular internships in psychology: a perspective of students in formation.
psychologist training; internship; skills; historical-cultural psychology.
The undergraduate degree in psychology aims to train psychologists directed to research, teaching and acting in psychology. Supervised internships in psychology were defined as a series of training activities permeated by the planning and direct supervision of teachers at the higher education institution. In this modality of undergraduate education it aims to ensure the consolidation and articulation of competences for training in psychology. The national curriculum guidelines aimed to ensure that the supervised internship is characterized by the student's contact with conjunctures, contexts and institutions in order to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that are effective in professional actions. The theoretical foundations are the model of conceptual, procedural and attitudinal competences and the historical-cultural psychology. This research aimed to analyze the experience of supervised curricular internships in psychology from the students' perspective. The method consisted of qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research. Data were produced through semi-structured narrative interviews and flash cards with three female students from the 9th and 10th semesters of the psychology course of a private higher education institution in Salvador. The results were categorized from conceptual, procedural and attitudinal competencies during the internships and the meanings of supervised internships built by students in psychology training. From the data analysis it was possible to identify that the students faced the challenges of the internships through the collective construction of knowledge and connection with colleagues and teachers, highlighting the space of supervision. Students emphasize that psychology training is a transformative experience in personal, professional, social and ethical terms. Thus, it was possible to conclude that the experience of supervised internship in psychology training enabled the development of significant personal and professional learning provided by activities in the practice fields.