Social Justice Activism Internship

The mission of the Social Justice Activism Internship is twofold: (1) to help interns become competitive applicants for master’s and doctoral degree programs in the mental health professions and beyond and (2) help interns contribute to progressive social change in their home country through social justice activism.

The values of the Social Justice Activism Internship are in alignment with the values of progressive social justice organizations (e.g., SURJ), the psychology specialty of counseling psychology, and the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Guidelines, and include but are not limited to the following:

• Call people in, not out
• Practice accountability through collective action
• Take risks, make mistakes, learn and make amends, and keep going
• Organize out of mutual interest
• There is enough for all
• Growing is good
• Center class
• Critical consciousness, prevention, strengths-based, advocacy, flexibility and adaptability, collectivism, liberation, healing
• Beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, respect for people’s rights and dignity

The Social Justice Activism Internship serves people within the United States and internationally, as our interns engage in social justice activism and community service both within and beyond the United States, depending on where interns are geographically located.

About the Social Justice Activism Internship Coordinator: Dr. Joseph Hammer is an educator and licensed psychologist in the state of Kentucky in the USA who has coordinated the Social Justice Activism Internship as a private citizen (unaffiliated with his day job as a psychology professor) since Fall 2024. Internationally, he is most known for creating and disseminating free resources about getting into and thriving within Psychology Graduate School. In his day job, he teaches students how to use active listening skills to facilitate change from individual to systemic level. Since 2020, he has served as a volunteer leader with Showing Up for Racial Justice's national phonebanking program and has volunteered with several other progressive social justice organizations in the USA.