Lay summary
In New Zealand, educational psychologists work to support children and young people with behavioural and emotional challenges across environments such as schools and educational settings. Before full registration, intern educational psychologists complete course work at one of two universities and often 1500 hours of supervised practice in a district Ministry of Education office outside of schools. Although placements at these offices provide rich opportunities to learn and practise critical skills, the increasing demand for services, long wait lists, and distance to schools has created several challenges in the way interns undertake their work. These challenges can inhibit the opportunities for interns to learn skills and processes that are critical to their work, such as whakawhanaungatanga and implementing interventions. Novel internship placements for interns are needed to keep up with the increasing demand for services and to protect the integrity of psychological practice in New Zealand.