SLV.Global Reviews 190

I had a really positive 5-week placement in Sri Lanka. The staff and peer mentors are amazing and make you feel supported the whole time. I really enjoyed the opportunity to experience living in Sri Lanka and running creative therapy sessions for service users. My only wish is that it was a bit more Psychology-focused but even so, the incredible experience and the awesome people that I met made the placement more than worthwhile.

The Bali placement was an amazing and eye opening experience that I will never forget. It was very valuable to be able to work with service users of all ages, ranging in all kinds of abilities. I enjoyed being able to plan and then run these projects whilst seeing service users enjoy and positively take part to improve their strengths and abilities. I hope that we helped to leave a positive impact on all service users and the projects benefited them. A bonus to this placement was that we were able to explore the beautiful island of Bali during our free time! That is the great thing about this placement, not only are you gaining valuable experience in Mental Health, you are also able to travel and explore a place that people dream of going to! Living in Bali and being a part of the community was also an experience I am grateful to have gained, we got to see all parts of Bali that not every 'tourist' would experience. Our homestay family were amazing and made my experience even better!

Volunteering for SLV is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would recommend it to anyone who has thick skin and can see the gold in any situation. Although the living conditions weren't amazing (which is a given), the experience gained is invaluable; it'll open your eyes to global mental health, and enhance your CV greatly! It's also a great step to take if you want to see more of the world, immerse yourself in a vibrant culture, and meet new people.

Throughout my 12 weeks as a volunteer coordinator for the SLV.Bali team I learned so much! I gained an immense amount of valuable psychology experience, ranging everywhere from working with geriatrics, to special needs, to mental illness. SLV has made it such a huge priority to reach as many as we can to promote positive mental heath, and in doing so has such a wide variety of projects running on this placement, that you will inevitably gain experience working with any population you can imagine. I loved having the opportunity to play such an important role in revealing everyone's strengths, volunteers and service users alike, and pushing them to use these strengths to their full potential. It was amazing being able to remind people that everyone is good at something, and choosing to focus on this rather than flaws and deficits. I look forward to my next adventure with SLV!

I was able to gain a variety of skills through the psychology hands on work experience by running activities with people with mental health issues and special needs but also teaching English within the community in Sri Lanka. I also had the opportunity to meet a psychologist who had experience in Sri Lanka, England and Australia who gave me insight into how attitudes on mental health differ in Sri Lanka.

Overall, I had an amazing experience and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to learn about global mental health and gain hands on experience.

To summarise my 5 week placement (advanced) in Sri Lanka in a short review is simply impossible. I am immensely proud to have been part of the SLV.Global community and to have contributed towards their beautiful vision. It is such an incredible company and I hope to do more work with them in the future.

I often find myself thinking of the service users, my homestay family, other volunteers and the incredible travels I embarked on during my time in Sri Lanka, I was truly sad to leave. Though I have left empowered with a breadth of experience and knowledge and inspired to continue to contribute towards better mental health provision word wide.

Great hands on experience! I had a lovely time working in Sri Lanka over the summer where I go to meet some inspirational service users and fantastic colleagues which have become great friends. I would recommend to lots of people but the cost of the placement should be considered.

A great experience with lots of access to opportunities to make a difference in the community and promote positive psychological wellbeing.

My experience on this placement has been invaluable. I had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of service users: from all backgrounds, ages and abilities. It has been a rewarding journey, allowing me to expand my skill set while doing something meaningful and having a positive impact on others. Living in a traditional Balinese village allowed me to fully immerse myself in the culture and I enjoyed every aspect of it - my homestay family were so kind and welcoming.

I just finished the 5-week Advanced Placement in Sri Lanka, and it was better than I could have ever imagined! I got to work on so many types of projects, from Child Development to Activity Support. This placement has helped confirm my specific interests within Psychology, and helped me gain more confidence in my own knowledge. I have also learnt so much, such as working in mental health, cultural awareness, the importance of body language, and how using therapeutic activities can be extremely beneficial for service users. Thank you SLV. Global for this opportunity!

Where to start. All I can say is that SLV. Global is probably one of the most incredible companies that I have volunteered with. I volunteered in Sri Lanka last year which led me to then volunteer with them in Bali for three months as a peer co ordinator. With such a long summer break and the need to gain psychology work experience with summer sun, this was the perfect fit!

As soon as I signed up, support was given from day one. This included having access to a portal where I could become fully prepped for my adventure ahead. This included support such as how to apply for a visa, what to pack and what to expect when I arrived.

In regards to the actual work experience I was able to gain a real insight as to how mental health is approached in a different culture. This is incredibly valuable when applying for a doctorate in clinical psychology as it allows you to think beyond the medicine aspect and actually consider ones beliefs and how this can affect the treatment process.

As Bali is a fairly new placement there will be last minute changes to the programme which requires you to be flexible. This may be frustrating at times however, it’s all about looking at the silver lining. For example, if a project that you had worked hard to plan for had been cancelled due to a ceremony then that’s a prefect opportunity to join in on the festivities and learn more about their culture.

Living within a Balinese village whilst being on placement was so incredible. I have never met more hospitable people who were so kind. You truly became part of their family whilst you are there.

After all the hard work during the week you are then able to travel on your weekends. I was able to visit so many beautiful places in Bali and really unwind by chilling at the beach or visiting some incredible temples. I would travel on the weekends with other volunteers that I lived and worked with. I made some incredible friendships that I know will carry on through life. Our bonds were so strong due to our similar mentatilty of having a passion for promoting positive mental health and having fun at the same time!

I can’t recommend SLV enough. The amount of support from the beginning to the end is incredible. It isn’t just about gaining psychology work experience, it’s so much more.

The opportunity that SLV organization gives to all who are interested to gain a practical experience in a non-Western society is well worth it! What makes this placement different is that we had access in a variety of institutions, providing help to different service users with mental disorders in order to bring them joy. I highly recommend this placement as apart from the skills i gained, it will definitely help me to build up my CV.
So don't think more about it,just complete the application form!!!!

I was apart of the 4-week Advanced Mental Health Placement in Sri Lanka, and it exceeded all of my expectations.
Everything about this placement was rewarding and, in every situation, was a learning experience that I will cherish forever. I learned a lot, both about myself and my future career prospects but also about the differing views and experiences that service users within different cultures experience. Through this learning, I found that I was constantly challenged, but for all of the right reasons. It taught me to become more adaptable and also forced me to step out of my comfort zone and take lead in certain situations which I feel has improved my self-confidence. Whilst I learned a lot more than this and gained a lot of hands-on experience, these few examples are what stood out to me.
I feel that everything that I learned from this experience will aid me in my academic career, my career prospects and also my life in general.

I made some of the best friends and through this, created some unforgettable memories both on the amazing projects and the weekends that were spent travelling.

I would highly recommend SLV.Global to anyone with an interest in global mental health development, and anyone who wants to learn a little more about creating a positive mental health attitude in numerous different countries and cultures.

I am forever grateful to SLV.Global for allowing me to have this opportunity and gain so much experience. All I can say is thank you.

I had such a fantastic time in Sri Lanka volunteering. This was an experience that allowed me to understand exactly what I want to do when I am older.

Most amazing company
SLV made it possible for me to experience something as amazing as working in another country in an area of psychology that I love and opened my eyes to the differences in not only attitudes, but the practices in which people are treated. Would highly recommend to anyone who is either interested in clinical Psychology experience, or even if you're interested I would definitely suggest that they give it a go!

My 5 weeks in Sri Lanka was an experience that I will never forget. The culture, my home-stay family, the service users, and the friends I made from all over the world made it such an enriching trip. The sessions that you run each day are what you make of them. If you put the effort into planning thorough sessions, you will end each day with such a rewarding feeling that I am unable to put into words. The smile that you see on the service users faces make the challenges along the way completely worth it. Although the language barrier can be a bit challenging at times and the conditions of the facilities can be a bit upsetting, this placement gives you a great idea of what it's like to work in the field of mental health.

Traveling over the weekend is absolutely incredible and the island is breath-taking. The natives are so excited to have you in their country and love to chat with you about why you're visiting. The only thing that I would recommend is a bit more organization with workshops and SLV coordinated activities. Other than that, I had a great experience!

My time in India with SLV.Global has been so amazing. During the first week we had the opportunity to experience different approaches to mental health, along with sessions looking at cultural attitudes towards these practices, which took place at NIMHANS. Getting to explore southern India in the second week was also incredible, and even though our flights were cancelled due to flooding, the SLV team couldn't have been more supportive - they helped us to arrange new flights and hotels.

Despite there being so much to fit into the space of two weeks, I felt like it was organised really well. At no point did I feel overwhelmed or under pressure to take part in anything that I didn't feel up to. I cannot recommend going on this placement enough; I am already looking into the Sri Lanka or Bali placements for next year!

SLV have been so supportive every step of the way, before and during the trip. The team that welcomed us in India could not have been any more welcoming and friendly. Even when we had some difficulty along the way with cancelled flights, SLV helped us get through and reorganise our way back home including free meals on our very long journey back to Bangalore. Can’t thank the SLV team enough for such an amazing experience in India. Highly recommend. Namaste 🙏🏻

I attended the SLV india workshop and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I learnt so much about mental health and the culture of India from the ancient school of wisdom and NIMHANS. Going to Mysore and wearing a saree was also an amazing experience. The 2nd week was just as good as we were able to explore more of southern india. I went to india when there were floods in Kerala and the coordinators worked so hard to keep us safe. They helped with reorganising flights and getting us safely back to Bangalore so that we could leave after the workshop finished. They were also one of the warmest and friendliest people I have ever met and I'll miss them. I would 100% recommend SLV global!

I did the SLV Sri Lanka advanced placement this summer and enjoyed every minute of it. My homestay family, my peer mentor and all the other staff were so welcoming and helpful throughout. The placements were so varied and allowed me to get a better idea of what areas I may want to specialise in.