Internships and Practicums

Internship and practicum opportunities at the CDR are as varied as the students who take part in these activities, and the CDR strives to customize each student’s experience to fit his or her area of interest and study. These placements provide students with real life experiences that allow them to take their classroom knowledge into the real world and help individuals, families, organizations, and communities manage conflict issues.

For example, one student might do an internship with the CDR’s Juvenile Victim-Impact Panel program. Or, another intern could work with the CDR’s community mediation program. Yet another intern might assist the CDR by providing workshops for at-risk youth on how to understand conflict and make good conflict choices. Each of these scenarios represents just one of many internship options that are available for students working with the CDR. Other internships that students have participated in include:

• assisting with program development for the Conflict Resolution in College (CRC) Peer Mediation and Conflict Coaching program;
• training and serving as a peer mediator or conflict coach with the Conflict Resolution in College (CRC) Peer Mediation and Conflict Coaching program;
• training and serving as a victim-offender mediator with the Juvenile or Adult Victim-Offender Dialogue program;
• training and serving as a facilitator or room monitor with the Juvenile Victim-Impact Panel program,
• facilitating a Girls Circle group in a middle school or in the evenings;
• developing conflict resolution workshops for targeted community or organizational audiences;
• participating in the 40-hour Civil and Family Mediation Training, provided twice-yearly by the CDR;
• researching and developing materials to assist with fundraising for the CDR’s community programs and projects;
• working with the CDR to develop promotional materials for CDR programs and activities;
• assisting with day-to-day operations at the CDR, and many others.

Additionally, the CDR partners with local organizations to provide specialized internship opportunities. Some of these partnerships are ongoing, while others are cultivated to meet the needs of specific students.  Each of these internship partners help to expose students to real-world applications of conflict skills while strengthening Missouri State’s ties to the community.

The CDR’s work with diverse and at-risk populations, as well as its high-impact community programs, also make it an ideal practicum site for students in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Missouri State University. As an MSW practicum site, the CDR provides a variety of opportunities for graduate social work students to apply the theory, knowledge, and skills they have learned within their academic program to work with individuals, youth, and families. Additionally, the CDR offers these students specialized advanced training in mediation and conflict skills that not only enhances their educational experience at Missouri State but also provides them with invaluable tools they can use on a daily basis upon their graduation and entry into the professional social work arena.