Growing up, part 2
Every semester here at NIU is making me feel more and more like a professional psychologist. This is super awesome.
I just spent a few hours reading some research articles about modern statistical methods for psychotherapy process research (i.e., evaluating why and how therapy actually works) and understood most of it. I have my fifth session with my client tomorrow, and I'm about to do some reading on therapy protocols related to that to finish preparing for our session. I then have to finish reviewing my lecture notes for my Intro to Psychology class (we're starting the stuff on developmental psychology tomorrow).
About two weeks ago, a random thought ultimately led me to discover the existence of a "Deaf wellness" therapy track at an APA-accredited clinical psychology internship site. There are several similar programs in the country, but the best one I've found so far is at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, NY. This is especially interesting to me, because URMC was the very first med school that I interviewed and was wait-listed at two years ago. It's a beautiful area, and I remember hearing on my tour that there was a large population of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the area. So, as a result, I am now seriously considering the possibility of trying to pursue a career in providing psychotherapy and clinical assessment for this group of people.
A few days ago, I talked to Karen White (the clinic director at NIU's Psychological Services Center) and asked for ideas on how to look into this career area more. Fun fact: There is a licensed clinical psychologist who works in NIU's Communicative Disorders department who is apparently fluent in ASL and has extensive experience working in the areas of mental health and Deaf wellness. I emailed him and am currently working on setting up an appointment to meet, to see if he has any information for me and suggestions for career ideas. Something about this just seems right, although I am still trying to be open-minded about career ideas! I'll keep you updated on where this path takes me.
So, basically, I love my program and where it's taking me...even if there are certain days (or weeks, or semesters) where I feel overwhelmed, overstressed, and exhausted.
I just spent a few hours reading some research articles about modern statistical methods for psychotherapy process research (i.e., evaluating why and how therapy actually works) and understood most of it. I have my fifth session with my client tomorrow, and I'm about to do some reading on therapy protocols related to that to finish preparing for our session. I then have to finish reviewing my lecture notes for my Intro to Psychology class (we're starting the stuff on developmental psychology tomorrow).
About two weeks ago, a random thought ultimately led me to discover the existence of a "Deaf wellness" therapy track at an APA-accredited clinical psychology internship site. There are several similar programs in the country, but the best one I've found so far is at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, NY. This is especially interesting to me, because URMC was the very first med school that I interviewed and was wait-listed at two years ago. It's a beautiful area, and I remember hearing on my tour that there was a large population of deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the area. So, as a result, I am now seriously considering the possibility of trying to pursue a career in providing psychotherapy and clinical assessment for this group of people.
A few days ago, I talked to Karen White (the clinic director at NIU's Psychological Services Center) and asked for ideas on how to look into this career area more. Fun fact: There is a licensed clinical psychologist who works in NIU's Communicative Disorders department who is apparently fluent in ASL and has extensive experience working in the areas of mental health and Deaf wellness. I emailed him and am currently working on setting up an appointment to meet, to see if he has any information for me and suggestions for career ideas. Something about this just seems right, although I am still trying to be open-minded about career ideas! I'll keep you updated on where this path takes me.
So, basically, I love my program and where it's taking me...even if there are certain days (or weeks, or semesters) where I feel overwhelmed, overstressed, and exhausted.