For As Long As I Can Remember, I Have Been Fascinated By

Growing up as a child, many children would watch cartoons and play video games, but I took an odd liking into watching videos about different mental illness. For the longest, I have been fascinated with the human mind; trying to figure out how it works. Entering into my adulthood, I became an individual who was an open vessel for people to dump their problems into. I get gratification out of being able to help people with their problems and see them with a smile on their face. Being a counselor's is not just making someone's day or listening to their problems, but it is also about spreading mental health awareness to other individuals. I selected the Mental Health Counseling program because one day I seek to become a Mental Health Counselor. Having a Mental Health Counseling degree, will

During and immediately after my undergraduate course, I had the opportunity to work as a volunteer at the American Counseling Association and as a houseparent for an institution that houses mentally ill individuals. The association welcomes students and encourages them to offer voluntary services while they have an opportunity. My experience at the association, as a houseparent, and currently as a paraprofessional for mentally ill adults and children with behavioral problems provided me with a solid footing as well as the necessary resources to prepare for my career in counseling. The experiences gave me an opportunity to attend several conferences and workshops where I had the chance to meet and interact with other professional counselors. These opportunities opened me up and exposed me to numerous challenging situations that helped me to grow both personally and professionally. Interacting with more qualified and experienced people in the association, institution for the mentally ill, and agency that I currently work for has helped me to develop confidence in my work as I sought their assistance and guidance whenever I needed help. The experiences gained while working at the association was helpful to me as I could apply that knowledge and the skills learnt to help my church members. At my church, I was a youth leader and

I was only two years old when my mother passed away. Left with an absentee father, I felt a void in my life. I was constantly misunderstood by other family members, which triggered my aggressive behaviors and communication style. Unable to cope with my emotions as an adolescent, I sought help from my school’s social worker. For the first time, it felt great to express my feelings without worrying about being judged. Through our regular meetings, she helped me improve my social development and attitude. She changed my life as I was becoming a better person. In addition, with her assistance, my family and I were able to value communication, understand each other and live in a healthier environment. This chapter of my life has inspired me to pursue a career in social work and be part of a team who continuously helps people overcome obstacles in their lives.

Once upon a time being a therapist was considered a calling. The images of a counselor sitting back in their comfy cushioned chairs listening to hours and hours of patient's dilemmas, heartaches and mental health issues have been replaced with the hard cold facts that therapists today are

Interpersonal communication is how individuals connect with one another, and is a necessary skill for anyone that desires to build harmony, demonstrate respect, diffuse and solve problems, and build meaningful and mutual relationships. This course has allowed me to better understand how and why I communicate the way I do, as well as ways to improve my communication skills and be more cognizant of the functions and repercussions of communication. I learned that communication is about more than what is spoken. It also includes nonverbal cues as well as role schemas. Through studying situations and tendencies in relationships, this class has provided me with life knowledge that will contribute to the success and benefit of current and future

From a young age, I have always wanted to understand other people’s thoughts and feelings. As I have grown older, I have grown even more curious about not only understanding people, but learning how to help them. With this guiding me, my future career goal is to become an Occupational Therapist. Occupational Therapists work with a wide variety of people to help them overcome obstacles in their lives in order to achieve a better quality of life. I specifically hope to work with young children, adolescents, and teens who suffer from emotional, mental, or cognitive impairments. This is due to growing up in a family who fostered challenged children, having siblings with their own challenges, and having many young friends who could have benefitted

Starting out as a Vocational focused field counseling eventually developed a preventative measure for those “wanting to work with a more “normal” population” (Noah, 2018). As needs arouse throughout history counselors have developed different ways of working with people. Today there are 16 different divisions in the American Counseling Association (ACA) (Norton, 204). Mental health counseling specifically was developed as a hybrid between “psychology and educational counseling” as a way to fill gaps in services for those conflicted with mental health issues (Smith & Robinson, 1995). Today mental health counselors utilize a holistic approach and wellness models to assist people with a multitude of issues, from clinical

My family and friends don’t quite understand my motivations to become a mental health counselor. Personally, I can think of nothing more rewarding than helping people through dark times and giving hope for a brighter future. Deep down, I’m an idealist with enough life experience to pepper my expectations. There are countless possible research topics within the mental health field, but I’ve recently developed a deep appreciation of suicide prevention since volunteering for the Kern County Mental Health Hotline. I’ve also become acutely aware of the relationship between suicide and mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder.

Mental and emotional health can have interpersonal, and social impacts; I want to provide evidenced-based mental, emotional and behavioral health interventions within the context of families, communities and larger systems, to children and adolescents. My goal as a licensed counselor will be to develop a collaborative relationship where each client feels empowered to act as an expert in developing effective coping skills, manage anxiety, depression, navigate difficult life transitions, and enhance communication skills and relationships. Reflective practice and self-evaluation will be an integral part of my practice. This also means being able to set my experiences, values, privilege, beliefs and biases aside during counseling sessions and allowing the clients goals and needs to take precedence. In order to be well-rounded in my profession, my day-to-day functions will include, assessments, psychological testing, counseling, personality testing, teaching, treatment plans, referrals, coordinate services, case-management, client-family- community education, documentation,

When I first started my college journey I initially majored in Biology. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I was influenced by my advisor to enter the biology field. After my third year, I decided not to pursue biology anymore, and that’s when I discovered my passion for the Psychology field. After receiving my undergrad in psychology, I knew that I wanted to get my masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, but I had no idea of how broad this area is. This week assignment granted me the opportunity to interview someone who has been in this profession for 25 plus years who has worked in all sectors when it comes to mental health counseling. It allowed me to learn the pros and cons of this field and it even gave me more insight and clarity on exactly what I wanted to do. I found this week assignment to be very informative and I believe it is necessary for anyone that’s interesting in entering in this field. I am grateful for the knowledge and advice that I received during this week assignment.

Like most Americans, family was an important factor of my life; after God. I didn’t have the opportunity to grow up with my father in the home like my brother Johan. My parents divorced when I was 5 years old. I was a young lad learning to tie my shoes. I didn’t really understand what divorce was until I realized that daddy was not always there.

Licensed professional counselors have a unique occupation in that not only do they interact with their clients on a highly personal level, but they also momentarily share their client’s burdens, worries, and concerns. This vicarious aspect of counseling creates the possibility for a counselor to continue sharing the client’s troubles long after the session has ended. According to Norcross and Guy (2007), “The person of the psychotherapist is inextricably intertwined with treatment success” (p. 2) meaning that if we desire more positive outcomes than negative ones we must figuratively become one with our clients. Due to this fact, “self-care is not simply a personal matter but also an ethical necessity, a moral imperative” (p. 6). If we fail to leave work at work at the day’s end, then other facets of our lives are in jeopardy of becoming tainted.

Sometimes I think that I would be better off if I didn’t have to communicate with others. However, I would eventually come in contact with other people, and would eventually become bored and lonely. Moreover, I would come to need companionship from someone who could understand me and care about me. Human interaction is not often thought of as a basic human need, but it is almost as much of a necessity as the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Throughout the course, I have learned several things, but the information on personality theory, eye communication, and family rules were what I found to be most interesting.

Every day, people’s speech styles and patterns shifts through similar social encounters, whether there are mundane conversations between colleagues or a rare meeting between a citizen and the President. Consider an interaction between an employer and an employee? How about an interaction between colleagues and friends? The way we interact and communicate with either party differs; this intergroup interaction is what academics describe as the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) (Gallois, Ogay, & Giles, 2005). More specifically, this theory explains the motivation commutators have to either converge with or diverge from each other during the communication phase (Gallois, et al., 2005). According to Gallois, et al. (2005), the social human connection is a series of convergences and divergences, one converging to bridge the gap that separates individuals to form a stronger bond. In stark contrast, they (2005) describe divergence as the rejection of one individual rejecting a certain or a series of verbal and nonverbal behaviors as a mean to maintain their individuality.

The first variable of this research was who the individuals were talking to. This variable caused changes in how these individuals interacted with each other. A few examples