INTERNSHIP

Ambulatory Monitoring Inc. (AMI)

This infographic provides a visual overview of the DREAM IT study, outlining the full process from participant recruitment to data analysis.

Dustin O’Keefe Lynch

Associate Director of Visual Communication

Indiana Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute | CTSI

About Internship

The Healthy Sleep for Kids Lab leads research focused on understanding how sleep problems develop and can be treated in children from infancy through adolescence. One of these projects is the DREAM IT Study, which looks at whether Teen Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia can actually help improve sleep in teens compared to a waitlist group that does not receive direct treatment.

The study uses questionnaires, actigraph sleep monitoring, and sleep logs to track each participant’s sleep patterns. Through this research, the team evaluates how effective Teen Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is at reducing insomnia symptoms and improving overall sleep and well-being for teens.

I work at the Healthy Sleep for Kids Lab, which focuses on understanding how sleep problems develop in children of all ages and how they can be treated. My specific role is in the DREAM IT study, which aims to test a treatment for insomnia in teenagers. This study uses questionnaires, actigraphy for sleep monitoring, and sleep logs to track each participant's sleep patterns before and after treatment. We are investigating whether an adapted version of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (Teen CBT-I) can effectively improve sleep in teens, compared to a waitlist group that does not receive immediate treatment. My responsibilities include reviewing, de-identifying, and ensuring the accuracy of transcripts from the teens' virtual treatment sessions. Through this research, our team wants to find effective ways to treat insomnia in adolescents, eventually improving their overall sleep and well-being.

LHSI Artifact_Litt

Workplace

This year, I have become an engaged, dependable, and determined team member. This growth is largely due to my experience at my internship. At the beginning of my internship, I was only given small tasks because I had not yet been trained to handle larger projects. This made me feel like I was only a small part of the team and that my work didn’t make much of a difference. As I progressed, I became more knowledgeable about the work I was doing and why it was important. I started engaging more in meetings, having more discussions with my supervisor, and becoming someone they could lean on. I began to feel that my work was meaningful. Now, I am leading my own project at my internship, which shows how I have grown into a team member others can depend on.

"I began to feel that my work was meaningful."

My contributions played an important role in helping my internship team achieve its larger research goals. My responsibility was to review, de-identify, and ensure the accuracy of transcripts from teens virtual treatment sessions. While this task might seem small and unimportant it was actually essential to the integrity and success of the study. By de-identifying each transcript, I helped protect the anonymity and privacy of the teens who are participating in the study. This step allowed the virtual session videos to be safely deleted, which not only protected participants but also aligned with ethical standards for research with adolescents.

Without accurate and de-identified transcripts, the team would not be able to use the session content for analysis. These transcripts captured what teens were learning in CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) and showed how their understanding, behaviors, and sleep patterns changed over time. This written record helps the team analyze, measure progress, and determine whether the interventions are effective. In doing this work I directly support the project’s mission to find effective ways to treat insomnia in adolescents and improve their overall well-being.

“While this task might seem small and unimportant, it was actually essential to the integrity and success of the study.”

Learning and Growth

The skills that I feel most confident in now, since the fall, are leadership, oral communication, and achieving goals. In terms of leadership, I know that I am growing in this skill because my supervisor trusts me enough to allow me to lead my own project. Compared to where this skill was at the beginning of my internship, I can see a drastic difference.

My oral communication has also developed throughout my internship. At the beginning of the internship, I rarely spoke during our weekly team meetings, and I would communicate with my supervisor only when I was directly asked to. However, as the internship went on, I became more comfortable with my team, which made me more confident in this skill. I began talking more during meetings, asking questions, and discussing my work regularly with my supervisor.

Lastly, I have grown in my ability to achieve goals. For example, my supervisor set a goal for me to transcribe at least two therapy sessions a week. At first, I thought I would struggle with this because it took me a lot of time to complete just one. My supervisor advised me that if I focused on the task without distractions, I could meet the goal. I followed this advice, and I not only met the goal but began to exceed it.

"My supervisor advised me that if I focused on the task without distractions, I could meet the goal."

The skills I want to continue working on are building relationships and oral communication. To help build relationships, I want to talk more with colleagues about both work and their personal lives, as this will help me learn more about them personally and can lead to closer bonds. I will also participate in more campus events, as that will help me connect more with my peers and community.

To help grow my communication skills, I will continue to ask questions and express my thoughts. I will also communicate more with peers, especially those I don't know well, to create new connections.

The internship has helped me understand my major this year by giving me insight into my preferred working style and what to expect during social work sessions. I prefer working independently on large, long-term projects. I will use this self-knowledge to guide my approach to different areas of social work.

By watching sessions between clients and the therapist, I have gained insight into how these sessions are structured. This is helpful because it gives me a framework for incorporating into my future client sessions, even if the content is different.

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