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May 31, 2011

Something About Me You Should Know...

I believe we each speak from our life experience and orientation. I know I certainly do. And so, despite numerous attempts to weave parts of myself and my experiences into other posts, this part of me deserves its own post.

I was always interested in human nature, something about it just called out to me. I revel in learning about people, understanding the world from their point of view, recognizing them for who they are. People are fascinating.

And so, after finishing my undergraduate degree, I began a doctorate program in psychology. Being in psychology graduate school, I learned, is a serious time commitment and an incredible amount of work. Taking out huge loans doesn't help either, I'll have a mortgage to pay off before I've even got a house.

What do I look forward to? Working with clients three or four days a week, 5-6 hours a day, while paperwork and supervision (professionals telling me what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing well) tack on several hours per week. After that, I've got afternoon and evening classes as a full time student, and not to mention the travel time which means I'm getting home around 10pm a couple nights a week. Don't ask when my homework gets done, I'm not even sure I know.

Of course, there's also research lab. Either working with a professor on their research or my own, and eventually my own research will lead to a monstrous document we call a dissertation. I should mention some people take years (as in three, four or six) just to get their own dissertation done. I'm working on cramming mine into a year and a half or less.  

B"H I thoroughly enjoy learning new things, and my fascination with humanity is a thirst for knowledge that's hard to quench. Which is why my mind naturally filters practically everything through a psychological lens. 

Welcome to this huge chunk of my life.

5 comments:

  1. So everything we write is being psycho-analyzed? Thanks for the heads up :)

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  2. I just love how that's either the first joke or the first assumption (perhaps both) people make when they hear that.

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  3. ah ha so your in the psych track? I'm also a psych "person" but I decided not to go on the Psyd route (which I'm assuming its what your are currently on). I've heard it is very difficult and the work can be very consuming...

    I hear what you mean about seeing everything through "psychological lens". My friends often accuse me (occasionally falsely!) of using psychology on them. I love psych--I think a part of psychology, specially when it comes to therapy is innate but there is a definitely a component of learning new things about human behavior that is very interesting. I strongly believe that a psychologist is merely a mirror--that helps the person see inside themselves. You basically help them, help themselves. And as we know, to help one person, is to help an entire world. There is no reward that compares to the feeling when you've helped someone else. Specially if its an emotional/mental health--in many ways I think it is even moreimportant than physical health since I strongly believe that they are positively correlated.

    p.s. my clinical psych professor who is very knowledgeable would repeatedly tell us how one of the greatest learning experiences in psych school would be supervision. He also recommended staying with the same patient(s) for 2 years (different schools set up the hands on experience differently).

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  4. @ZP:

    Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate your thoughts and experiences!

    Everyone uses psychology, whether or not they are conscious of it. The same way everyone uses physics, whether or not they have formal training or schooling in its principles.

    I've found for myself that grad school is a whole different world than undergrad, and the training component isn't just learning about human behavior, it's also about building a specific set of therapeutic skills -because effective therapists don't talk to their clients the same way friends talk.

    There are also many different theories, some that focus on changing the person, others that focus on mirroring (as you stated) and some that are mixes of both, or take philosophical approaches instead of employing specific techniques. There are more shades and subtlety to psychology and therapy than many people imagine.

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  5. Wow interesting, I've noted quite a few bloggers going into psychology (correlation?). I also did a psych major (and accounting, with a speech minor) so I hear all the time how competitive these doctoral programs are... good for you and good luck!

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