College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Psychology

Service Learning and Practicum Opportunities


Service Learning

Various undergraduate courses incorporate service learning as part of their course requirements. To fulfill the service learning component, students spend a set number of hours working at a community site related to the course material. Service learning provides students with the unique opportunity for hands-on, experiential learning. Students are able to apply the information they have learned in the classroom, develop skills related to specific employment options, and obtain exposure to the daily functions of particular agencies. In addition, students provide valuable volunteer assistance to agencies that may be either understaffed and/or underfunded.


Undergraduate Practicum

Students wishing to extend their on-site training beyond service learning can enroll in our Undergraduate Practicum (Psych 445). This course allows students to gain supervised experience at one of more than 30 local and county agencies. Students enrolled in Psych 445 meet every other week in a classroom setting, but the majority of their time (i.e., 15 to 135 hours/semester) is spent working on site at an agency or business under the direction of a site supervisor. Site arrangements are typically made with agencies in Lewiston, Clarkston, Pullman, Moscow, and the greater Palouse region. Occasionally, arrangements are made with agencies located in Spokane and other areas of Washington.


Students gain personal, hands-on training in a field related to psychology while also providing a service to the community. They provide services to the aging and elderly; individuals diagnosed with mental illness; children of all ages and abilities in various educational, residential, and community service settings; victims of sexual assault, abuse, and domestic violence; jail inmates and juvenile offenders; and individuals with drug and alcohol addictions. Students provide case management and social work services, guardian services, support and advocacy, paraprofessional counseling services, tutoring and education, community outreach, hospice care, child care, recreational services, and program coordination. The Palouse and the state of Washington benefit greatly from our students' desire to learn and give back to the community.

Students who complete this course are often better prepared to progress to graduate school or enter the workforce immediately following graduation. Some students are offered positions at the sites where they completed their practicum appointment.

Below is a list of past and current agencies that have partnered with the Department of Psychology to provide practicum opportunities for undergraduate students:

List of Agencies (A through Q)
- Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse
- Aspen Park Healthcare
- Associated Industries
- Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse
- Aspen Park Healthcare
- Beyond Survival
- Bishop Place Senior Living
- C & R
- Care Net of the Palouse & WISH Medical
- Cedar Apartments
- Children’s Home Society
- Children’s NETT
- Clark House
- Coeur d’Alene Tribe Social Services Department
- Colfax High School
- Commencement Bay Rowing Club
- Community Action Center
- Dreamworks Residential
- Early Learning Services
- Emmanuel Baptist Church
- Enterprise for Progress in the Community—Head Start
- Family Home Care and Hospice
- First Steps to Parenting
- Franklin Elementary School
- Union Gospel Mission of Gray’s Harbor--Friendship House Women’s Shelter
- Gritman Medical Center
- Harvest House
- Head Start/ECEAP & Community Child Care Center
- Independent Psychologists
- The Learning Center
- Living Faith Fellowship
- Medical Lake Elementary School
- Milestone Decisions
- The Montessori School of Pullman
- Nez Perce County Court Services
- Northeast Washington Early Childhood Programs
- Northwest Children’s Home
- Oakesdale School District
- Palouse Discovery Science Center
- Palouse Recovery Center
- Palouse River Counseling
- Palouse Regional Crisis Line
- Phillips Agency
- Pioneer Square social services
- Planned Parenthood
- Pullman High School & Eclipse Alternative Program
- Pullman Parks & Recreation
- Pullman Regional Hospital
List of Agencies (R through Z)
- Rainbow School
- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
- Sunnyside Elementary School
- Sunnyside Preschool & Childcare
- University of Idaho Human Resources
- Whitman County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
- Whitman County Jail
- Whitman County Juvenile Court
- Washington State University
- Athletic Department
- Peer Academic Counseling
- Academic Resource Center
- Sports Psychology Services
- Center for Advising & Career Development
- Center for Civic Engagement
- Center for Entrepreneurial Studies & Entrepreneurship class
- Children’s Center
- Gender Identity/Expression Sexual Orientation Resource Center
- Health & Wellness
- Cougar Health Awareness Team (CHAT)
- Eating Disorder Prevention Program
- Health research
- HIV/STI Peer Counseling Program
- Safe Is Sexy
- SIRC & CEAK
- Human Resource Services
- International Center
- Marketing Department
- People Pet Partnership
- Pet therapy program
- Palouse Area Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) & PATH to Success
- Pet therapy program
- Police Department
- Read for Life
- SMART Home Project
- Student Advising & Learning Center Peer Advising Program
- Swim Gym Program
- YMCA
- Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic Behavioral Health Services—Rainbow Vista

A complete list of current practicum sites (which do change occasionally) is available in the Department of Psychology main office (Johnson Tower 233).


Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-4820, 509-335-2631, Contact Us