CAMFT & end-of-semesterness
So the last 2 weeks of my life have essentially been nonstop craziness... These are the things I have done:
1. Analyzed the family structure within the film American Beauty
2. Written a 12-page "ethnographic interview" paper based on an interview with a multiracial friend from high school for my cross-cultural counseling class
3. Compiled a case file of about 10 components (case notes, intake application, informed consent, release to contact current psychiatrist, elder abuse report, treatment plan, etc etc etc) in response to a case study for my law & ethics class
4. Attended 9 workshops at the CAMFT conference near LAX (and, in the process, discovered two personal mentors & idols within the therapy field... although I also learned that we're less trusted as a profession than car salesmen, and just slightly more than lawyers)
5. Wrote a 40-page genogram paper, which, when you take into account my interview transcripts and various charts, ended up at a grand total of 77 pages!
So if I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth, that may be why. Anyway, I have two classes today, and one next week, and then I'm done with this semester, and there is naught to do but grit my teeth until grades are posted.
I'm so impressed with my own genogram project... I don't think I've ever put that much energy and effort into a school assignment in the entirety of my academic career.
And the CAMFT conference - wow. Anyone who's interested in the field should look up Marty Klein, a sex therapist in Palo Alto with an incredibly brilliant, straightforward, unbiased and existential approach to working with couples, and Barry Duncan, who gave a seminar about "Practice-Based Evidence" (as opposed to Evidence-Based Practice) and taught us about being a therapist who, instead of looking for deficits and trying to fix them, searches for strengths and encourages clients to apply those to their own struggles. The conference completely rejuvenated me and reminded me why I want to go into this field. Fabulous!
That's it for now... now that zaniness is temporarily over, I shall attempt to write somewhat more often.
1. Analyzed the family structure within the film American Beauty
2. Written a 12-page "ethnographic interview" paper based on an interview with a multiracial friend from high school for my cross-cultural counseling class
3. Compiled a case file of about 10 components (case notes, intake application, informed consent, release to contact current psychiatrist, elder abuse report, treatment plan, etc etc etc) in response to a case study for my law & ethics class
4. Attended 9 workshops at the CAMFT conference near LAX (and, in the process, discovered two personal mentors & idols within the therapy field... although I also learned that we're less trusted as a profession than car salesmen, and just slightly more than lawyers)
5. Wrote a 40-page genogram paper, which, when you take into account my interview transcripts and various charts, ended up at a grand total of 77 pages!
So if I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth, that may be why. Anyway, I have two classes today, and one next week, and then I'm done with this semester, and there is naught to do but grit my teeth until grades are posted.
I'm so impressed with my own genogram project... I don't think I've ever put that much energy and effort into a school assignment in the entirety of my academic career.
And the CAMFT conference - wow. Anyone who's interested in the field should look up Marty Klein, a sex therapist in Palo Alto with an incredibly brilliant, straightforward, unbiased and existential approach to working with couples, and Barry Duncan, who gave a seminar about "Practice-Based Evidence" (as opposed to Evidence-Based Practice) and taught us about being a therapist who, instead of looking for deficits and trying to fix them, searches for strengths and encourages clients to apply those to their own struggles. The conference completely rejuvenated me and reminded me why I want to go into this field. Fabulous!
That's it for now... now that zaniness is temporarily over, I shall attempt to write somewhat more often.