Spring 2026 Social Justice Activism Intern

The ideal applicant for graduate school in the applied mental health professions (e.g., psychology, counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy) has (1) applied helping experiences/internships on their curriculum vita that help them stand out, (2) strong letters of recommendation from professional supervisors who can speak to that applicant’s talent and passion, (3) social justice activism skills and experiences that have helped them develop their critical consciousness, and (4) a knowledge of the “hidden curriculum” (i.e., unspoken rules) of how to put together a competitive graduate school application.

To help more people become competitive applicants for master’s and doctoral degree programs in the mental health professions, Dr. Joseph Hammer coordinates the Social Justice Activism Internship for people across the United States and beyond.

We are accepting applications for the Spring 2026 intern cohort until January 10th, 2026.

This internship is designed to be a high-quality training opportunity tailored to helping people make a positive difference in the world while building their (1) applied helping and active listening skills for their CV, (2) ability to earn a strong letter of recommendation from a professional supervisor, (3) social justice activism skills and critical consciousness, and (4) knowledge of how to be a successful applicant to graduate school.

Furthermore, unlike most internships that require in-person attendance, interns can live anywhere in the world, provided they have reliable internet access and the ability to attend internship activities during the afternoons/evenings in USA Eastern Time (UTC-4) Zone.

To help interns develop these active listening skills, they engage in two activities:

First, they attend weekly one-hour internship seminar meetings (on Zoom, a free-to-use teleconference app) facilitated by Dr. Hammer. During these meetings, students will (1) get to know Dr. Hammer and the other interns, (2) learn principles and strategies of social justice activism/organizing, (3) practice the active-listening skills that make someone an effective organizer and applied mental health professional such as open questions, telling your shared interest story, and empathetic reflection techniques, (4) and learn the strategies for creating a strong graduate school application and making a good impression during interviews. Students are expected to spend up to one hour prior to each seminar meeting completing an assigned reading.

Second, they will attend phone banks organized by progressive non-profit grassroots community organizations (e.g., SURJ, WFP) where they will put their social justice activism and active-listening skills into action to help create a more just world. Dr. Hammer has volunteered with these organizations and can personally vouch for the high quality of these organizations’ phone banks. Volunteer shifts at these phone banks typically are typically 2 or 3 hours long and occur weekday evenings or weekend afternoons (Eastern Time). Interns are asked to complete a minimum of 15 hours of phone banking over the course of the internship.

However, Interns who are located outside the USA and cannot therefore phone bank with these USA-based organizations will instead work with Dr. Hammer to identify a local/regional progressive social justice focused organization in their home country that the interns (1) are not currently volunteering/affiliated with and (2) that offer ways for the interns to get involved as volunteers that will require interns to use their active listening skills (e.g., restatements, open questions, expressing empathy) to do the volunteer work. These internationally-located interns can earn their 15 hours by providing volunteer service through that local organization.

For more details about the internship, please visit https://drjosephhammer.com/psych-grad-school/social-justice-activism-internship/