Best experience ever! My SLV placement in Indonesia really exceeded all expectations! This placement not only opened my mind to a whole other world of mental health and allowed me to gain such valuable hands on experience, but also did so in such a beautiful place. From the moment you arrive in Bali and meet with the SLV team, you are made to feel comfortable and supported with the very organised staff, and this continued for the duration of the placement. The projects you work on are so special, allowing you to work with such amazing people that will inspire and influence you! The homestay are also beautiful, they are all very clean, modern and comfy! In addition to the work and location, the added bonus is the friends you will make. You are thrown into living and working with people from all over the world, which means meeting amazing people who you will travel around Indonesia with at weekends and even after the placement. If you have an interest in mental health and love travelling I cannot recommend this placement enough!

Fell in love with Sri Lanka! I had an amazing time in Sri Lanka in July to August of 2018. Sri Lanka was beautiful and the staff were all wonderful and so helpful! I learnt loads about mental health in a different culture and realized that I want to go into a career into mental health and in parts of the world with such scarce resources and little awareness or understanding of mental health. I adored my homestay family and felt safe and looked after during my whole placement. I also met lots of like minded people who have no become some of my best friends. I was on an advanced placement and gained such valuable Psychology in the form of visiting Psychiatric Units, talks and Q&A's with professionals in the field and also shadowing a Psychiatrist! I also learnt lots working with special needs service users. The reason for not giving 5 stars in that the whole 5 weeks didn't consist of mental health experience and it involved a lot of English teaching, which whilst was enjoyable, was not psychology experience. Additionally, I felt like I could be doing more on projects but much of the time was spent travelling between projects which was tiring and I could then not give my all to the service users. Additionally, I felt more support could have been provided from professionals to offer the most effective and enjoyable projects for service users with the biggest long term impact and not just arts and crafts which was often resorted to. Finally, many of us were unsure where our money went as the placement was expensive and we had to pay for transport, resources and food for many of the days and therefore was more expensive a trip then expected and would have liked to know where the placement fees were going and more clairty on how much goes to chairty etc. Overall, I had a great experience and would recommend! I can't wait to come to Sri Lanka and to try make and help in any way with mental health in such a beautiful country!

The 5 week Mental Health Placement was an extraordinary experience which allowed me to travel as a well as gain experience in the field o psycholgy that I’m interested in. The home stay family was so welcoming as well as members of ‘Team Colombo’.

I had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka on my mental health placement! All in all, the experience with my fellow volunteers, staff and the service users made my trip feel really rewarding and worthwhile. The placement allowed me to gain a whole host of new skills as well as the opportunity to build on the ones I currently possess. I loved the fact that I was able to do all of this, whilst immersing myself in a new culture and being able to travel/explore at the weekends. There is a wide variety of projects that you could possibly be placed on, giving you the opportunity, to do a range of things from running therapeutic craft activities to teaching English. On reflection of my time in Sri Lanka, there are the few odd things which I believe if altered/changed, would improve the entire placement greatly. One of the main things is the hidden costs. Volunteers need to travel to/from projects as well as buy resources for all of them. Although one off costs are not detrimental, the repeated use of the buses and continued buying of arts and crafts does add up, and it's not something you initially budget for. Other than that, it has been an experience I'm very thankful for!

Working as a peer mentor for SLV Global was a truly a very unique experience. Spending 3 months in country really allowed me to connect with service users my homestay families in particular. This opportunity was invaluable. The company as a whole is a really good experience, as long as you are positive. At points Sri Lankan timing and general slow organisation can be frustrating but you learn to live with how things work over there! The country itself is beautiful and completely different and eye opening in places. Being able to travel on weekends, as tiring as it may seem at the time, is really enjoyable and well worth throwing yourself into whilst there. The sense of community shown by the local people can be very welcoming, and is something that I have missed returning home. Overall, a very special life experience that I would recommend to others!

Overall, the experience was amazing, enriching one where I grew and learned a lot! The company tried their best to be organised with the locals who were a little unorganised. The placement is a lot of money for what we do, and you spend a lot more than they suggest if you want to do nice things on your weekend. The staff were very supportive and helpful, but the 5-week placement was very expensive. In total, it cost me about £3,000, so if someone was to do the placement they would need to budget/raise this amount, including flights, buying appropriate clothes, vaccinations, visa, travel when out there, project materials and food. If undecided about going into psychology as a field, especially clinical, this placement will confirm whether it’s what you want to do or not, so I would highly recommend it for that. If you have a passion for mental health or special needs, I would also recommend it for that. It has made me consider a career change into teaching English (as a foreign language), or teaching psychology. The staff and volunteers themselves were wonderful and I had such an amazing time during projects and on my weekends - although it was expensive and you struggled to get alone time, it meant that you were never lonely and always had moral support, no matter how you were feeling! The friends I've made will be friends for life, and as for the country - I didn't want to leave! It was a very eye-opening trip, a true experience of living like a local, and the things I witnessed at projects were bittersweet - sometimes upsetting but also positive with regards to how positive we can make people feel and how your efforts go a long way. Overall, very expensive and although the prices were stated on the website, there were a lot of hidden costs. However, it was an amazing life experience and perfect work experience for someone like me who previously had none. Sri Lanka lassanai !

Great experience, I feel I have learnt during my time in Sri Lanka. I also had the best homestay family a girl could ask for! I had so much fun on my 5 week placement. the only thing I left feeling a little unsure about it that given the whole placement is volunteering, I'm a little unsure why the cost of the placement is so expensive and where the money is actually going.

I would recommend this experience to anyone doing psychology who isn't quite sure what area they want to go into or who has little experience. The placement offers you the chance to work with a wide range of people, with different ages and abilities. It also allows you to get access to settings you would never get access to in the UK. You come away knowing a bit more about what you would like to go into next. It's also a fantastic opportunity to make friends, experience a different culture and travel. My homestay family Mr G, Amma, Menaka and Mahen were amazing and deserve so much recognition. The only thing I would add is that I agree with comments about wondering where all of the money went, I was under the impression transport was fully arranged from slv from the websites however had to pay for the majority of it.

I have just returned from a 5-week placement in Sri Lanka and would absolutely recommend this placement to anyone who is looking for Psychology experience in a different culture. Mondays to Fridays are spent running projects in psychiatric facilities, special needs centres, addiction centres, schools/colleges and child development centres. Weekends are spent travelling and exploring the beautiful country of Sri Lanka! The homestays are lovely and Amma's cooking was always amazing! SLV is a well-organised company and ensures that all volunteers are well looked after.

Overall the experience was fantastic with SLV Global, especially in a whole new culture. I gained new skills, alongside building on my current ones and with the varied projects got an insight into lots of different careers. Furthermore, the staff there made you feel very welcome and part of the team from the start, which is very useful in your first weeks when you have lots of questions. One thing which could be improved are the Monday morning session planning, which is slightly rushed and since the Monday afternoon projects are planned the same day, they are very difficult to do to the best of ones ability. Equally the costs of resources and travel are not explained fully in the placement fees and while small costs, they do add up. Nevertheless, I would still recommend the SLV Global experience to anyone, with an emphasis on keeping your mind open while in a new culture and working with a lot of new people.