Supervised Professional Practice and its role in psychology students’ education: An experience in the social-community field

Abstract

Universities’ main goal is to educate professionals, but they also play a role in community development. To obtain their bachelor's degree, Psychology students must carry out Supervised Professional Practices (SPP): intensive and integrative practices, which seek the articulation of the academic world with the professional work sphere. During the SPP, students develop competencies for psychology practice and assume their own professional identity, while offering their services to the community. An empirical phenomenological design was used to analyze the experiences of psychology students taking a SPP (n = 5) and participants in the implemented activities (16 adolescent basketball players). From observations and documentary review, a positive evaluation was found by the institution at its different actors (players, coaches, and coordination). On the other hand, students positively valued the teamwork cohesion, practicing in different psychology fields than the individual clinic, the possibility of putting into practice the knowledge acquired throughout their academic career and their ability to adapt to the context’ changing demands. It is concluded that this space functioned as a bridge between the student seeking to put their knowledge into practice and the institution, which benefited from its interventions.