The two texts Finding your counseling career by Brooke B. Collison and Careers in Psychology, Opportunities In A Changing World, by Tara L. Kuther and Robert D. Morgan, was very useful. It explained to me a lot of mistakes people make when entering graduate school. For example, attending a school that does not participate in your chosen professions license. The text gave me a lot of advice on what to look for pertaining to internships and experience. For example, things that are good to participate in for internships would include mental health settings, boys and girls clubs, or even substance abuse centers. This gave me an ideal of what to look for when I volunteer or seek experience related to my chosen profession. It also gave me an ideal of what types of research to participate in, which will later come to my advantage when applying for graduate school. Some good topics in research would include study of abnormal behavior, specific disorders, for example bipolar disorder, or psychopathy research. I am really surprised by these findings because I am interested in the majority of the materials listed.
Many Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapist identify some characteristics of personality to be very important and valuable. A person interested in a counseling career should be a good listener, open-minded, able to hear strong emotions expressed, positive and optimistic about possibilities, and be able to take care of your own physical, emotional, and mental well-being, along with many other important characteristics. ( Collison, Brooke. Finding Your Counseling Career. 2010). I am delighted to receive this information because I am convinced that I have these characteristics or I am willing to adapt to them in order to pursue my goal of becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist.
The text also helped me to better understand how to reach my goal. It presented me with different steps and ways to pursue my goal. For example, how to look for experience and what, exactly, to look for. It taught me that a major in psychology is not the only route to becoming a marriage and family therapist. I could also find a program that only specializes in marriage and family therapy, which could provide me with hands on experience and allow me to get a better understanding of a counseling career as a whole. It also informed me of the types of practitioners associated with counseling careers. Now I have come to understand that I do not have to own a private practice in order to do my job, but I can become a part of an organization and receive pay based off of how many clients I serve.
There was some information that I was familiar with as well. For example, I am aware of the fact that to become a family therapist, I am required to attend graduate school. And for me to be able to meet this requirement, things which include a high grade point average, some experience, and meeting the requirements of that school, are highly important. But I was not aware that some graduate schools requires a license in a specific area in order to be accepted into that school. This pushes me to start finding out more about graduate schools and their different requirements because they vary depending on states.
I found most of the text really beneficial and it gave me grounds on where to start so that I am prepared for jobs and graduate school. It also helped me gain a feel for the types of research and experience I should be interested in for experience pertaining to my chosen profession. It gave me a variety of common mistakes to watch for and tips on how to avoid them in the future. It provided me with things that needs to be completed before entering graduate school, in which I found very helpful.
I always thought that in order to be in psychology that you would have to work to get a private practice. This was one of the main things that led me to not going into psychology but its pretty cool that you don't have to own a private practice to counsel people.
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