Since September 4, 2025, second-year master's degree students in the field of study "Psychology" (specialization "Psychological Counseling") from the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of the Patrice Lumumba Russian University of Peoples' Friendship have been undergoing practical training at the Remote Counseling Sector "Children's Helpline" of the Federal Coordination Center for Ensuring the Development of Psychological and Pedagogical Assistance in the Educational System of the Russian Federation (FCC MSUPE).

"Practical training is an important type of academic work; it allows students to expand and consolidate the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired during their studies at the university, to acquire and improve practical skills according to the curriculum, and to gain preparation for their future professional activities. Furthermore, it is an excellent opportunity to try themselves in the field of remote counseling for children, adolescents, and their parents, to 'try on' the profession of a helpline consultant," notes Yulia Alexandrovna Zhuravleva, Head of the Remote Counseling Sector of the Children's Helpline at the FCC MSUPE.

The students are now halfway through completing their internship. The preparatory stage, which reinforced the students' theoretical training, has been completed. They have studied algorithms for working with callers' requests and analyzed practical cases with various specific types of calls – from prank calls to serious conflict situations and crisis states of the callers. Under the guidance of experienced psychologists from the Children's Helpline, five student interns have taken their first calls.

Sharing her impressions, one of the students noted that "at first, it was scary, primarily the thought of receiving a crisis call. But there was also curiosity: 'What would I say? How would I conduct the consultation?' Today, it's easier; we received work algorithms, listened to how specialists work, and analyzed complex cases in practice." It was heartening to hear from one of the students, who said with a smile after her first accepted calls, that her fear stemmed from the concern that she would enjoy working on the helpline and would want to stay: "I love doing things I'm good at, and here, it seems to me, I can succeed!" The associations shared by the students about the general atmosphere and environment at the Helpline service leave a warm impression. "It feels like home, the telephone handsets feel like home, but now I speak through them as a professional," notes Irina. Ksenia, reflecting on her first day taking calls on the Helpline, mentioned that she was left with a "feeling of real life when you hear the callers' stories."

In turn, the team of the Helpline service thanks the RUDN University students for their activity and engagement in the internship process, their genuine interest in every caller, and their strive to gain new experience and knowledge.