<p>I'm gonna be a sophomore in high school this fall and I want to get experience in the field I'm planning on majoring in for college: Psychology. Some people have said that it's too early to know for sure what I'll major in (I agree somewhat) but I think I need some experience by interning and shadowing a professional. Right now, I'm not exactly sure what branch of psychology I want to go into (I'll decide that as I get more experience in the field). I have taken 0 classes in psychology and pretty have no experience with psychology besides the fact that my brother goes to a psychologist every month for his depression, and my uncle has some psychology/mental issues, as well as the fact that I've been to a psychologist a few times before. So, if I wanted to intern, what are the steps I should take to become an intern? Do I need to be a certain age to intern? What are the usual interning opportunities that I could do (hospital, private practice, etc.) ? I'm in the Pacific NW, by the way. </p>
<p>TL;DR: 0 experience in psychology pretty much, but I want to intern and I'm wondering what it takes to be able to intern.</p>
<p>I found it extremely difficult to find internships or places that were willing to take interns from high school, unless your school had a specific program set up (which we did for architecture and IT students).</p>
<p>A sophomore is a little too early to know… I’d recommend taking at least one basic psychology class before deciding if this is what you’re even remotely interested in. The thing is with college majors is that you should focus on what you want to do as a career, not just what you want to study, because you’ll potentially be doing whatever it is you sign up for for the rest of your life. There’s absolutely NO pressure for you to decide now, or even when you begin college. Many college students switch majors multiple times before deciding, but I’m just giving you a heads up on not to stick to one thing and keep an open mind in what you’re passionate in and what you could possibly stand as a career.</p>
<p>Shadowing right now is your best bet, IMO, for now. I’d just call around and ask places that would allow you to shadow… but I doubt that a lot of places would let you shadow just because of confidentiality issues for certain things. I suppose you could always ask to talk to one and ask away with all your questions.</p>