This summer I applied for one of the internships offered by the university for the Work
Placement Course. After the selection procedure I got the internship at Momentum skills.
Momentum Aberdeen offers vocational training for two groups of clients: Acquired Brain
Injury and Mental Health. My Internship was for the Acquired Brain Injury group that took
place on Mondays and Tuesdays for an 8-week period. The internship consisted of
delivering sessions to the groups of clients and helping staff with a variety of admin jobs.
The sessions that are delivered at Momentum include topics such as: Dealing with
Emotion and Fatigue, Brain Injury Awareness, Healthy Living, Personal Goal setting, Job
Club and more. The sessions consisted of a general introduction to the topic with
questions the clients could answer in their own time usually followed by a group
discussion. I found it very enjoyable to lead the group discussions in a way that all clients
would participate so we could all learn from each other. I felt like the courses were very
well designed to give the clients useful tools to improve all aspects of their lives to
increase their chances to succeed in their vocational goal. I wasn’t really sure what to
expect delivering sessions to clients with brain injury and over the 8 weeks I experienced
that it really varies per client whether you can even tell if they have suffered from brain
injury. The brain injury is only visible from the occasional memory lapses and issues with
producing speech but above all I experienced that it was a very motivated group of
people that really wanted to develop themselves for their future.
What I will take away from this experience is how rewarding volunteering can be. I found
it fulfilling to deliver sessions to clients because I felt that I could actually give them
something by facilitating open discussions and by sharing my own experiences. The
clients were very grateful for all the work the volunteers put in. I felt that the simple "thank you" from the group made the internship very fulfilling.
Renske is a 4th year studying for a BSc in Neuroscience with Psychology
