“Go There Because You Care:” Trainee Psychologist’s Narrated Experiences in a Juvenile Home

Abstract Background: Internship is a critical phase in psychology training, shaping professional identity and clinical competence. As part of an internship, psychology students often enter practice with limited preparation for navigating the professional challenges that arise when working with a diverse population. This becomes particularly evident when working with Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP), whose placement within the juvenile justice system itself poses significant challenges to the trainee psychologists. Hence, this study aims to explore the experiences of a trainee psychologist providing psychological services to CNCP in a juvenile home, highlighting the role and challenges faced during the training. Methods: Clandinin and Connelly’s (2006) narrative inquiry involved a purposively sampled trainee psychologist (a 25-year-old female) who had completed at least 10 months of internship in a juvenile center, participating in a semi-structured interview. Key narrative threads were co-created with the participant through in-depth story analysis. Results: The narrative threads co-created were: The budding psychologist, evolution of professional identity and ethical navigation, and understanding psychological care and future outlook. Conclusion: The findings underscore the critical importance of restructuring psychology curricula and training, reinforcing ethical guidelines for practice, and cultivating advocacy skills among trainee psychologists to better prepare future psychologists for the complexities of working with vulnerable populations like CNCP.