Hi Skewed!

I think this whole thing is commendable.

I still stand behind my recommendation of volunteering. Even with a crisis network. While you don't have the experience to man a phone there is a lot you can do behind the scenes and it would expose you to helping people who are troubled and give you an opportunity to see how they are helped. Practise people watching and guess what they do or what their lives are. Yes, this can be considered offensive by some but it will go along way to practicing how to read people as well as emphaisize not getting personally involved. Maybe volunteer at a Food Bank, a shelter, or Community Mental Health Clinic. That too would expose you to people with a wide variety of problems and situations.

Can we ask just what it is you are already studying? Is this some sort of social science that is complementary to phsychology?