My Passion For Counseling

“He took his life the next day.” That was the narrator’s voice booming from my television from a documentary I was watching in middle school. I should've been playing outside or watching Disney Channel. Consequently, my heart was filling up with negative emotions. Despite these feelings, something else lit up inside of me: my passion for mental health.

My decision to purse a career in the field of Social Work has been influenced by several factors, including my environment, culture, education, work history, and personal diversity. Growing up in a low-income community, my environment played an important role in introducing me to a variety of social problems, such as gang violence and drug abuse, at an early age. My environment motivated me to escape these social disadvantages by advancing my education and creating more opportunities for myself. My culture reinforced strong values such as unconditional support to those in need, which gave me a sense of pride in my close-knit community and motivated me to improve quality of life. In school, I initially pursed a degree in Psychology in order to eventually become a psychiatrist and help those suffering from drug addiction, such as those I saw in my community. However, my pursuit of a second degree in Sociology helped me realize how different groups of people, especially when divided into different social classes, have access to different resources and opportunities. This made me aware of the various social inequalities that exist in today’s society and convinced me to advocate for change with a degree in Social Work. Later in life, my experiences with disadvantaged populations gave me a profound respect for the power of social services. Together, these factors motivated me to pursue a career in Social Work, where I would be able to improve the overall quality

With a master 's level education in social work, I see myself envisioning clients’ health and well-being. As a student, I will study and practice techniques, beyond a generalist perspective, that will allow me to give clients hope and the ability to see something greater than what they are facing. Upon completion of a Master of Social Work direct practice degree and certificates in gerontology and mental health programs, I intend to become a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I will competently incorporate specialized skills in different professional settings while developing my knowledge of a wide range of social issues and professional standards. With commitment, I wish to develop skills that will enable me to create or find hidden resources and services for my future clients, create platforms through counselling for victims of trauma.

Yoga is an ancient Hindu discipline that uses meditation and poses to help relax a person’s mind and body. Yoga is a great activity to share with someone who is going through addiction recovery because it will help challenge their mind, helping them forget about any distractions they may be having.

Interview paper with a Counselor (Rebecca Alexander), and a Social Worker (Mina McVeigh). This interview is for Mrs. Scott’s online class.

Like most parent, Nyeusi mother wanted the best for her children as a young girl Nyeusi and her brothers where sent to America to live with their aunt to get a better education and to flee the hardships of their home area Montagu, South Africa. As a teenager, Nyeusi realized working with people and helping them was a “gift.” “I enjoy working with many types of people, I can speak with anyone I feel it’s a gift and not a developed skill.” (HeKima, 2015). Nyeusi lives and works in North Carolina as a Substance Abuse Counselor for a non-profit organization. She holds in a master 's in psychology and a master’s in social work. The main goal with speaking with her was to understand the workings of a person that is working in the field of psychology with a masters or bachelor’s degree and is satisfied with the choices made.

Brief Family Therapy. (1999). In Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 34. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US). Retrieved from Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 34.: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64953/#A59962

In addition, these practices may promote an individuals’ personal development through increasing emotional stability, self-satisfaction, self-awareness, life-satisfaction, as well as improved mental, physical and social wellbeing which are necessary to work-through and overcome addiction. Current research supports the effectiveness of yoga and mindfulness meditation in treating addiction and facilitating the individual through the recovery process. Further research in this area is needed to address the efficacy of yoga and mindfulness mediation in the adolescent population as it relates to a decreased prevalence of substance use initiation. This is an important subject that needs to be further researched because the current prevention programs within United States schools may not be effective enough in preventing adolescents from using substances. An alternative approach using yoga and mindfulness may be helpful in assisting adolescents to obtain greater emotional self-control and decision-making skills to resist temptations for substance

Before choosing this article for my critique I used several factors to determine its value to this assignment. I had first had to determine if the content of the article would have value in the clinical world of counseling. This article is written by Stacie Stukin, a yoga instructor who writes contributing articles for Yoga Journal and yoga instructor Annalisa Cunningham who has also written Healing Addiction with Yoga. Both clearly believe and have witnessed firsthand the benefits that yoga can contribute to addiction recovery. The article explains that a yoga practice will help the recovery process on two fronts.

Our life experiences play a large role in shaping who we are as people. My childhood experiences influenced the woman that I am today. My father was abusive. He abused my mother, my siblings, and myself. Whether it was a domestic assault against my mother, slapping of my siblings, or a daily cursing session, our house has always been in turmoil. There were adults that knew about the abuse going on in my home, including teachers. However, none of them intervened for my brothers and I. I cannot help but wonder how my life would have been different if someone had. Experiencing child abuse, as well as my mother’s domestic abuse, is my greatest catalyst in pursing a graduate degree in social work. Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Child abuse could have broken my spirit but it made me stronger. It sparked my interest in mental health, and showed me the importance of compassion. I plan to use my gift to help others improve their quality of mental health, and encourage the development of self-determination.

As a social work intern, Alison has the ability meet a variety of clients and learn how to purposely utilize social work practices, social justice, and building allies. Alison is a 30-year-old, Caucasian woman who identifies as being heterosexual. Alison is financially middle-class, stability housed, and is disabled. Alison’s biological father is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and self-medicated with cannabis for over 30 years. Alison has seen first hand how this illness presents itself in the family system

My passion for Sociology developed from my exposure to social issues and yearning to create change. Growing up, I was constantly told that change was something unattainable. I had always dreamed of being a person who stood up and made transformations, but feared I would not succeed. My education taught me that the fear of failure, instilled in me as a young girl, was the only thing stopping me from innovating change. In my sociology classes, I realized that attending college would have a vast impact on my life.

The first strength that was identified for this week was summarizing and paraphrasing, I displayed these skills leading groups this week and that assisted in my strengths as a counselor. Another skill that was identified during my week from practicum was listening, during group I had the opportunity to listen and consume what the clients were expressing during groups, this helped me process and summarize certain things when the clients were done talking in the group.

It is my passion that has driven me to peruse a career in Social Work. My father struggled with alcoholism for years. It took his life suddenly in 2010 when I was just sixteen. When he passed, I was not so much sad, but angry. Angry at my Father for choosing alcohol over me, angry with my Mother for never getting us out of the vicious cycle of abuse we were enduring, and angry because I was confused. In the year after his passing, I let my anger transform into passion. I enrolled in college to get answers, to hopefully understand what made him do what he did. In my undergraduate education I began to understand alcoholism as a disease. It wasn’t simple he couldn’t just stop, and it wasn’t simple for my Mother to just move my brother and I away.

Counselling skills have been imperative in one-on-one work with clients; it has helped to build rapport, trust, and the use of empathy has deepened client relationships. I know that over the course of the year I will put these skills to even better use and I am thankful to have an opportunity outside of the classroom to practice. Building off of my past knowledge, SOWK 335 has given me tools to analyze structural issues from a social work lens. I have seen first hand, and at times participated in consciousness raising, about how gender, class, ability, race and age have contributed to my clients oppression and issues presented during our client meetings. Furthermore, it seems as if I am not necessarily applying social work theory directly, but that I am keeping it in mind during my work with clients. Seeing how my skills and education have grown so quickly, I anticipate my work with clients will become more effective and grounded in social work practice and look forward to seeing this