Personal Statement: A Career In Counseling Psychology

My name is Courtney Torok and I am currently a senior here at Kennesaw State University. I am graduating this December with a degree in psychology. I am originally from Michigan and moved down here to Georgia with my family just before starting at Kennesaw State University. I started off majoring in chemistry with the intent of applying to some kind of medical program, but eventually found that my passion was psychology. I have always wanted to work in the “helping” field. After graduating, I plan on applying to graduate school for school psychology programs where I will earn both my Master of Science in School Psychology and Specialist in School Psychology degrees. Ideally, I would love to be accepted into a graduate school in Florida, as

Psychology has always had a direct impact on my life for many years for example, I myself have had counselling sessions for anxiety. Experiencing this has given me a desire to work with people in understanding their behaviour and how their minds work to be able to empower individuals to lead better lives. My own personal experience with anxiety has also intrigued me into thinking why I think the way I do and what can be put into action to improve my circumstances.

Psychology has been a part of my life indirectly for many years, from something as insignificant as people watching in a cafe to an impromptu counselling session for a friend with emotional trauma. I have had a real desire to work with people for a long time and have always been fascinated with human behaviour and understanding how the mind works, in order to empower individuals to lead better lives. It is this fascination that has makes psychology such a desirable subject for me.

I currently work in the mental health field. I work for Easter seal of West tn and I absolutely love my job. With my job I've learned a lot about mental health and am very interested in furthering my career. I want to become a mental health councler with some speech therapy classes also. I have a lot of passion for what I do. I have a huge interest in autism and down syndrome. This has become my new passion ever since I started working with the company and I am also in the process of finding god again. So with that being said I believe this is the best college for me to attend. My goal is to learn more about mental health and progress in this field. I have came so far that my next step is school. I want to learn more about how to deal with

I want to be a counselor because I hold a heart filled with love, a hand willing to help and ear to listen. In this social world, everyone has a story wrestling with emotion that needs to be heard. It just comes down to one person who is willing to be there.

While in any manner of vocational setting the clients can fluctuate from different needs, scenery and situations, problem solving persist to be the major occupational purpose for this professional counselor. Even if people suffering from mental illness, families, individuals or students the professional counselor’s function and responsibility involves leading the clients through no matter what uncertainties, issues, struggles, dilemmas or problems he or she can confront. As a professional counselor wanting to function in the substance abuse rehabilitation specialty, this counselor will attempt in aiding clients in acquiring and discovering additional techniques to handle addictions, alcoholism, and life- altering occurrences, which should be

The career that I had in mind when I first began high school was one in counseling psychology. Luckily, this career was one matched closely to my interests and personality type. Although I’ve begun considering other career avenues, I still chose to research this specific career in depth.

Completing this project hasn't deviated my choice to become a counselor once so ever. I recognized the time and dedication I would need to put forth. I connect with this profession because I leaned on my counselors throughout high school. After recognizing how much I was helped I wanted to give back to other students. In my opinion, the pros outweighed the cons considerably and made my decision easy. When dealing with children who are emotionally or physically abused it will be heartbreaking to listen to their stories. On the other hand, if I truly become an amazing counselor, I will be there for emotional support. I will be dedicated to helping all children who need someone in their corner to stand up for them and what's right. As part of

As a school counselor, I must be a passionate advocate for the students I work with in terms of promoting cultural social justice, assist my students in developing cultural self-awareness, and promote wellness and growth of my students. I believe that these components of being a school counselor are the most important aspects of the position, and I will gladly accept these roles. I will work with students who are being marginalized in seeing their self-worth by helping them see how they matter, and I will do this by coordinating with others in establishing programs in which diverse students work to assist society. These programs will include cleaning up the area surrounding the school, working in homeless shelters, and giving the students a

A main component of empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Being able to do so is not an easy task, however, it is more obtainable when you have faced a similar issue. In a 2015 study done at Berkley University researchers, Daniel Lim and David DeSteno, gathered participants, from all walks of life, and gave them surveys to fill out that would measure their empathy. After the surveys, the researchers had the participants talk about their hardships and trauma, then gave them the option to donate money to the Red Cross. After the study concluded the data showed that “…

Empathy involves understanding other people’s feelings and relating to them, not my strongest quality. At times, I find myself oblivious to other’s emotions which results in a lack of communication. Viewing situations from a perspective other than mine definitely requires plenty of emotional intelligence. I am a feel, act, then think person, therefore, I am highly aware of my own feelings but that means I disregard everyone else’s.

I didn’t always have a passion for psychology to be honest. In fact, when I entered my first intro to psychology class in high school I was pretty insecure and scared at what might come out of it. It may have been more about the fact my teacher was a bit on the frightening side, but also the fact that the mind is so complex so how could anyone possibly ever understand it? However, as soon as the course initiated I grew passionate about psychology, for it was that very question that captivated me. I began to take other psychology classes my school offered and soon realized I may have a field to go into after high school that I actually enjoy. Which was a relief, considering we were constantly being told at the time we must figure out the rest of lives at ages 17 and 18. I considered myself very lucky to have found my passion at such a young age.

There are a lot of career paths when it comes to psychology. The key to picking which career you’d want to pursue is to find something that you would passionate about. In my life, I have always wanted to help people. A counseling psychologist helps people day to day to get through tough times.

My interest in psychology started before I began pursuing my major in Dietetics. When I was younger, my cousin who studied Psychology once mentioned to me about some fun facts that he learned in school such as different stages of sleeping cycles, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and dreams which sparked my interest in psychology. In addition, I was influenced by my tutor who had graduated in psychology. During class, she often shared about how she controls the behavior of her children through psychological techniques and I was amazed by the way she views thing differently because of her experience in psychology. She inspired me to think out of the box and think critically. My interest also grew as I took a nutrition counseling class that exposed me to different psychological theories and counseling strategies. Therefore, I believe that the knowledge

Gay culture has been attributed to the high statistics of gay men’s substance abuse issues, which are estimated to remain by and large at more than twice the nine percent rate of the general population (www.drugabuse.gov). Accordingly, it is probable that a bar/club attitude has persisted over countless decades because living as a gay man was illegal and the last vestiges of acceptance remained at the local speakeasy type rendezvous that urged alcohol upon its patrons. Even though there is a deficiency in statistics, more than a decade of research suggests that LGBT populations have been linked with elevated rates of alcohol consumption and substance use (www.samhsa.gov).