Courses with Social Commitment

These courses, aligned with UCAB’s mission, aim to foster students with strong professional competencies, reflective thinking, and a spirit of solidarity toward individuals and communities facing social disadvantage.

Social Commitment

As part of their course plans, these subjects offer formative activities for students within community settings. These activities are designed around the development of key competencies and the core profile of UCAB students, while providing meaningful support to local communities.

Psychological Assessment I – What Does It Involve?

This course trains students in the application of psychological tests and the assessment of children. To achieve this, partnerships are established with educational and healthcare institutions that require psychological evaluations for children or students.

Psychology students conduct their practical training in psychological assessment using these cases. Additionally, they provide schools and families with evaluation results that include guidance and referrals as needed. Depending on the case, families are either referred to appropriate services or offered direct recommendations.

For example, in November 2021, a field visit was organized to the María Antonia Bolívar School, where a group of children underwent psychological evaluations. Formal reports were delivered, and later, volunteers—some of whom had previously participated through the course—returned to provide feedback. These follow-up visits were offered by volunteers in an independent capacity, beyond the course requirements.

How Do Social Commitment Courses Foster Psycho-Volunteers?

  • Internships in School Psychology I & II

These internships are carried out in educational centers located near UCAB, serving populations with low socioeconomic levels—primarily Fe y Alegría schools and subsidized institutions. For one or two semesters, students engage in supervised professional practice, providing psychological care to children, their families, and schools. Children receive exploratory and formal psychological evaluations, as well as psychological intervention. Currently, these internships are located in La Vega, Artigas, and Central Caracas.

School Psychology Internships have been implemented since 1983 and remain in place today, responding to the psychoeducational needs of vulnerable schools surrounding UCAB. Their development has been shaped by key contributors including Chilina León, Silvana Campagnaro, Milena Matos, Sandra Katz, and Janeth Guerra.

  • Internships in Clinical Psychology for Children and Adolescents

These internships involve providing psychological evaluations and guidance to children with special educational needs. The children are served by special education institutions and healthcare centers that support disadvantaged communities. The psychological assessment provided to families and institutions is often required by social security systems in order to apply for financial assistance. These evaluations are essential for determining the specific support required for each child.

  • Internships in Adult Clinical Psychology

Most student groups complete these internships in adult clinics, hospitals, and community health centers serving underserved populations. Over a full semester, students receive training in both hospital-based care and outpatient consultations. Examples include the Dr. Jesús Yerena Psychiatric Hospital (LIDICE) and the Psychology Unit at Parque Social Manuel Aguirre, SJ.

  • Psychological Counseling Internships I & II

These internships primarily involve providing individual and group psychological support to students in secondary schools, diversified institutions, and universities serving marginalized communities.

The goal is to promote psychological and academic well-being by addressing psychosocial variables that impact academic performance.

 Law on Community Service

“Community Service is an activity students must carry out in communities to help solve local problems by applying the scientific, technical, cultural, athletic, and humanistic knowledge acquired during their academic training.” 

(Article 1, Regulations on University Community Service, UCAB, 2006)

Students are required to complete 120 hours of community service. A basic requirement is the completion of at least 50% of their academic coursework to qualify for graduation. Within UCAB’s School of Psychology, this law is fulfilled through the Social Commitment course—particularly via School Psychology Internships, which offer both the legal structure and meaningful experiences necessary to meet this requirement.

“Every student completing a School Psychology internship automatically fulfills the community service law requirement.”

Community Service Coordination: Professor Janet Guerra and faculty from the School Psychology Internships.  Community Service Commission

Regulatory Framework