Shown in photo: Maki Katoh with Dr. Tigist W. Tsega.
In late October afternoon, I received an email message from Dr. Tigist W. Tsega, assistant professor of counseling at the School of Psychology, Addis Ababa University (AAU).
“I am currently conducting a research study titled ‘Trauma-Informed Counselors: Exploring Internship Experiences at CVT,’” Dr. Tigist wrote. “I have reviewed around 90 email correspondences exchanged among us between March 2015 and October 2020. Through this review, I have come to deeply appreciate CVT’s significant contribution in making the internship program transformative in preparing our students for work in humanitarian contexts. . . . I believe such experiences deserve broader recognition.”
Dr. Tigist was planning to present her findings at the World Mental Health Day event organized on October 30, 2025. This message brought back a wave of memories over more than a decade of CVT’s collaboration not only with AAU but also with Mekelle University, University of Gonda, and Axum University, including programs in Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Early Childhood Care and Development Psychology, and, more recently, Physiotherapy.
Internships Get Started in Tigray in 2014
AAU, being the first, biggest and oldest public university in Ethiopia, was the first to partner with CVT in sending Master’s level psychology students to our program in the Tigray region. After going through application submission, exams and an interview process, four students joined the trauma healing program serving Eritrean refugees between May and September 2014. At that time, there were not many psychologists in the country, and many who graduated with Master’s degrees went straight back into the classroom to teach, with little opportunities to practice their skills. Internship programs were largely limited to working at psychiatric hospitals, where they were left to provide counseling to patients without much supervision.
Some students even deferred their graduation in order to attend an internship with CVT.”
-Maki Katoh, CVT Ethiopia country director
When CVT first communicated with AAU in early 2014, the late Dr. Robert Wise, then the director of Clinical Psychology at AAU, was eager to collaborate. With little prompting, he organized advertisements, secured exam space and facilitated smooth initiation of the internship program. Following a highly successful year of internships, continuation of the program into the next year was taken for granted. Some students even deferred their graduation in order to attend an internship with CVT. “Thank you for supporting the graduate program in clinical psychology!” Dr. Wise wrote.
A Rigorous Program
At the beginning of the internship, students receive a two-week intensive introductory training. Following this, they are incorporated into all aspects of program operation, including conducting sensitization to raise awareness about trauma and mental health in the community, assessing clients’ trauma history as well as symptom and function levels both at intake and following service provision, and sitting in intensive trauma counseling sessions with CVT staff and supervisors.
Throughout the internship period, the students participate in regular classroom-type training, receive weekly clinical supervision, and are mentored and coached during the various activities in which they participate. Based on discussions with the supervisors, students may be asked to read a book on certain trauma-related topics and discuss learning, write journals documenting their experiences and lessons learned, and/or support colleagues in delivering training and organizing community events.
Why Internships are So Important
An internship is meant to be a learning opportunity in which students can practice what they learned while receiving supervision and guidance so that they do not inadvertently cause harm to the clients. Furthermore, it is also critical that even seasoned mental health professionals continue to have space to process their own issues so as to remain effective helpers. This is even more important when they work with survivors of severe trauma. As such, attendance at clinical supervision is mandatory for both interns and CVT clinical staff.
Over the years, CVT welcomed interns in Tigray and Amhara regions, supporting clients among refugees as well as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other conflict-affected communities. Working with CVT is typically the first time that students are exposed to highly traumatic stories related by the clients. To reduce the risk of vicarious traumatization, provision of clinical supervision and creating space for self-care was highly important.
To reduce the risk of vicarious traumatization, provision of clinical supervision and creating space for self-care was highly important.”
“CVT has a strong supervision program . . . taking care of staff who has been so impacted,” Dr. Tigist commented in her presentation. Without it, trained professionals could experience compassion fatigue and burnout, resulting in their premature departure from the profession. Yet, careful nurturing could encourage young professionals to further develop their skills and remain engaged.
“To work as a clinical psychologist is to experience the immense satisfaction of helping people overcoming emotional and psychological difficulties,” reported one of the first interns from AAU. “From the internship, I learned how psychologists can be emotionally stable, how to establish rapport with clients, and how part of the diagnosis and treatments offered by psychologists involves keeping detailed confidential records, how to offer specific goals to the client, and assessing progress. This internship program also helped me to possess an appreciation of the professional role,” she continued.
Internships Lead to New Opportunities
Some of the interns also became motivated to support people in need in ways other than counseling. Two interns from 2024, after having consulted CVT staff, decided to collect donations from their fellow students and friends to help IDPs. Together, they raised 165,500 ETB (Ethiopian Birr) to help displaced women establish a coffee shop. “By integrating advocacy, trauma-informed clinical practice, and reflective learning, internships equip counseling trainees with the skills and resilience necessary for effective practice,” commented Dr. Tigist.
The impacts of internship program extended to unexpected domains as well. For some of the interns, this was the first experience to travel and work in the Tigray region. Our program hosted some students from different backgrounds, including some from Amhara and Oromia regions when the tensions among various regions were still high. Yet, the interns expressed high appreciation for the warm reception by the team in Tigray, demonstrated unreserved empathy for conflict survivors they were serving, and established strong sense of safety and belonging over the course of three to four months during which they worked with CVT.
One student rented a room in a family home during her internship and was invited back to attend a family wedding after she left the area. “CVT helped me find a new family,” she commented with a broad smile.
CVT helped me find a new family.”
-Former CVT intern
Another non-Tigrayan intern who was deployed to Mekelle volunteered at Meles Rehabilitation Center for war-wounded, continuing to offer trauma resiliency workshops following the completion of the internship. They serve as seeds for compassion and respect across different ethnic groups, offering hope for peaceful coexistence and community cohesion.
A Strong Legacy of Learning and Healing
The internship continued between 2014 through 2024, except for 2022 when the conflict in the Northern Ethiopia made it impossible to host students. Some of the interns now work with CVT, others with other humanitarian organizations, still others serve as lecturers at universities. A total of 39 students, including 14 women, underwent internships with CVT during this period. Slowly, CVT’s internship alumni are developing a cohort of trauma-informed professionals.
While two additional interns were engaged and deployed in early 2025, they had to return to their original place of residence shortly after they arrived, following the Stop Work Order issued by the U.S. government and subsequent termination of the CVT Ethiopia programs. “Funding gap is creating a gap in professional development among psychology students,” Dr. Tigist lamented.
With so many of its citizens having experienced grave traumatic events, Ethiopia needs trauma healers more than ever.”
With so many of its citizens having experienced grave traumatic events, Ethiopia needs trauma healers more than ever. Training more professionals in this specialization, representing various ethnic and language groups, will be critical in advancing healing in this country.
Dr. Tigist shared her aspiration: “I also hope we can explore possible collaborations, particularly in arranging short-term certificate training on trauma counseling for our current and former Counseling Psychology students.”
We hope that this dream will come true, and that CVT will be able to contribute toward that goal.
This post is dedicated to the late Haftay Hindeya Reda who, after having served as the first intern from AAU’s Clinical Psychology program in 2014, joined CVT and was promoted to become counseling supervisor over the years. He passed away in December 2021, after having suffered from an undiagnosed illness, for lack of medical treatment during the active conflict.
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The internship program at CVT Ethiopia was made possible with the generous grants from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) as well as USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
About The Author
Maki Katoh
