YMCA Youth and Family Services |
The YFS Team
The Silver Spring Youth and Family Services (YFS) is a branch of the YMCA of Greater Washington's social services programs. The Forest Glen location where I interned is one of two Silver Spring YFS offices.
The Forest Glen team currently includes:
YFS Mission
As a branch of the YMCA of Greater Washington, YFS works to meet the needs of underserved community members, while fulfilling the YMCA's greater mission of supporting positive youth development, encouraging healthy lifestyles among community members, and establishing a sense of social responsibility.
YFS Services
The Silver Spring YFS aims to provide prevention and intervention services to children and their families in Montgomery County, MD. Through their offices, the YFS team offers youth-focused mentoring, outdoor education, and truancy prevention programs, as well as youth and family counseling and therapy services, parent education programs, and crisis intervention. Almost all of the services YFS provides are free.
The Silver Spring Youth and Family Services (YFS) is a branch of the YMCA of Greater Washington's social services programs. The Forest Glen location where I interned is one of two Silver Spring YFS offices.
The Forest Glen team currently includes:
- 4 Licensed Therapists
- 1 Outreach Coordinator
- 1 Graduate Intern
- 4 Undergraduate Interns (including me!)
YFS Mission
As a branch of the YMCA of Greater Washington, YFS works to meet the needs of underserved community members, while fulfilling the YMCA's greater mission of supporting positive youth development, encouraging healthy lifestyles among community members, and establishing a sense of social responsibility.
YFS Services
The Silver Spring YFS aims to provide prevention and intervention services to children and their families in Montgomery County, MD. Through their offices, the YFS team offers youth-focused mentoring, outdoor education, and truancy prevention programs, as well as youth and family counseling and therapy services, parent education programs, and crisis intervention. Almost all of the services YFS provides are free.
Undergraduate Internship
My Role
As one of four undergraduate interns, I served as an assistant to the YFS team. I co-led a weekly mentoring group with another intern, assisted one therapist with a middle school psycho-educational group, and assisted around the YFS office.
Major Responsibilities
Reach and Rise Mentoring
The YMCA runs a national mentoring program called Reach and Rise, which uses a therapeutic model to address the needs of youth, especially those who have been exposed to trauma. After being trained on the Reach and Rise curriculum, I collaborated with another undergraduate intern to plan and lead weekly Reach and Rise groups for six 6th and 7th grade girls at the YMCA Calomiris location. In our weekly sessions we discussed how to foster healthy peer relationships, manage stress and anger, and build self-esteem and confidence. The mentoring group ran for 8 sessions.
Psycho-educational School Groups
On Friday afternoons I assisted Rob Gutenberg, one of the licensed clinical therapists at YFS, in leading a 45-minute group at Page Elementary School for 4th and 5th grade girls struggling with anger management. Together Rob and I collaborated with the Page ES counselor to understand the girl's needs before beginning our group. Each week Rob and I met to plan a lesson or activity for group, and then I completed process notes and attendance sheets after group. Our group ran for 12 sessions.
Office Assistance
Aside from my responsibilities in schools and at other YMCA locations, I spent about 6 hours each week in the YFS office at Forest Glen. There, I completed confidential intake forms over the phone with prospective therapy clients and families. These intakes are used to determine the needs of a prospective client, and assign them to an appropriate therapist. I also attended weekly supervision meetings on Friday afternoons. During supervision I reported on my progress in my mentoring and psycho-educational groups, and I listened to staff members share their current Case Conceptualizations. These allow the therapist to gain feedback from the rest of the staff, and troubleshoot areas of difficulty with their clients. These meetings provided great learning opportunities for myself and the other interns.
As one of four undergraduate interns, I served as an assistant to the YFS team. I co-led a weekly mentoring group with another intern, assisted one therapist with a middle school psycho-educational group, and assisted around the YFS office.
Major Responsibilities
Reach and Rise Mentoring
The YMCA runs a national mentoring program called Reach and Rise, which uses a therapeutic model to address the needs of youth, especially those who have been exposed to trauma. After being trained on the Reach and Rise curriculum, I collaborated with another undergraduate intern to plan and lead weekly Reach and Rise groups for six 6th and 7th grade girls at the YMCA Calomiris location. In our weekly sessions we discussed how to foster healthy peer relationships, manage stress and anger, and build self-esteem and confidence. The mentoring group ran for 8 sessions.
Psycho-educational School Groups
On Friday afternoons I assisted Rob Gutenberg, one of the licensed clinical therapists at YFS, in leading a 45-minute group at Page Elementary School for 4th and 5th grade girls struggling with anger management. Together Rob and I collaborated with the Page ES counselor to understand the girl's needs before beginning our group. Each week Rob and I met to plan a lesson or activity for group, and then I completed process notes and attendance sheets after group. Our group ran for 12 sessions.
Office Assistance
Aside from my responsibilities in schools and at other YMCA locations, I spent about 6 hours each week in the YFS office at Forest Glen. There, I completed confidential intake forms over the phone with prospective therapy clients and families. These intakes are used to determine the needs of a prospective client, and assign them to an appropriate therapist. I also attended weekly supervision meetings on Friday afternoons. During supervision I reported on my progress in my mentoring and psycho-educational groups, and I listened to staff members share their current Case Conceptualizations. These allow the therapist to gain feedback from the rest of the staff, and troubleshoot areas of difficulty with their clients. These meetings provided great learning opportunities for myself and the other interns.
A Day in My Intern Life
Here is an example of my typical Friday as an undergraduate intern with YFS:
10:00 AM -- Arrive at the office, check the binder for new client referral forms
10:15 AM -- Call prospective clients and complete intakes
11:30 AM -- Prepare materials for psycho-educational group (snack, supplies, Group File)
12:00 PM -- Drive with Rob to Page Elementary School
12:30 PM -- Check in at Page and set up for group
12:45 PM -- Friday group begins
1:30 PM -- Talk with Page counselor to process how group went
1:45 PM -- Leave Page for YFS
2:15 PM -- Lunch break
2:30 PM -- Group Supervision
4:00 PM -- Meet with Rob to plan for next week's group
4:30 PM -- Complete Reach and Rise paperwork from mentoring this week
5:00 PM -- End of intern day!
Here is an example of my typical Friday as an undergraduate intern with YFS:
10:00 AM -- Arrive at the office, check the binder for new client referral forms
10:15 AM -- Call prospective clients and complete intakes
11:30 AM -- Prepare materials for psycho-educational group (snack, supplies, Group File)
12:00 PM -- Drive with Rob to Page Elementary School
12:30 PM -- Check in at Page and set up for group
12:45 PM -- Friday group begins
1:30 PM -- Talk with Page counselor to process how group went
1:45 PM -- Leave Page for YFS
2:15 PM -- Lunch break
2:30 PM -- Group Supervision
4:00 PM -- Meet with Rob to plan for next week's group
4:30 PM -- Complete Reach and Rise paperwork from mentoring this week
5:00 PM -- End of intern day!