Personal Statement : Counseling And Therapy

Through time with clients I would work to help the client in self-discovery in regards to their mental state, whether it is good in many areas or if it needs to be improved. I would work to continue my education regularly as to be informed on the latest discoveries and improvements. In the same realm I would work with clients on achieving self-care and a stable mind. With these objectives in mind, I would hope that the place that my career takes me is a stable and person centered journey. My first goal in counseling is to be a lifelong learner, continual taking classes, attending seminars, and reading books to improve my knowledge and skills.

I have wanted to be a counselor since my freshmen year of high school and in the counseling field there are many specialties that I can focus on. I am fairly certain that I want to specialize in helping people with substance abuse and their families. I have always focused my studies, interests, and work on things that will help me in this field and I have a lot of qualities that help to enhance me in my eventual career. There are difficulties when I get to practice also like what people perceive as correct counseling style, challenges with my gender and race, and finally creating my own counseling style and plans.

I have chosen to enter the field of Mental Health Counseling at this particular time in my life because I would like to learn the skills needed to help people with their life and mental health issues. While attending the University of Saint Joseph during my undergraduate years I took various courses that have led me to making my decision. The courses I took focused on business, biology, social work, and psychology. After graduation I decided to take a year off and gain work experience in customer service and health care. I wanted to experience working with the people in my community. I was hired as a pharmacy technician at a Walgreens in Vernon. Working as a pharmacy technician has been a very rewarding experience for me and I learned a lot about people and their unique needs. I also learned about patient care and how to be pacient and understanding under stressful situations.

My passion and determination to undertake study within the mental health sector dwells from the insight I have been privileged to gain in my current role as a link care coordinator, working with people who suffer from a range of ailments within the mental health spectrum; from learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, OCD, Autism to name but a few.

My goal is to pursue a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My dream is to provide counsel and guidance to individuals, families, couples or groups of people; who are dealing with issues that affect them physically, emotionally and mentally. I would like help clients determine why they are experiencing their life challenges, develop goals and actions to resolve their issues. I would like to provide life changing advice to support & help clients overcome outstanding life situations, collaborate assessment and maintain treatment. Family and friends has consulted with me about their problems. I enjoy giving them advice that allows them to think about the decisions resolving the circumstance. With this I’m inspired to work in the

I chose mental health counseling as a profession due to personal experiences in my life. As a survivor of domestic violence, I felt a strong desire and need to make a difference with people, especially women and children of lower social economic classes, enabled due to lack of education, poverty disabled by of domestic violence.

(Professional Examination Service, Inc. 2006) There is a wide variety of skills that family and marriage therapists possess. Strong communication is crucial when working with others; these therapists not only have to communicate well with their patients but also with co-workers. (mymajors.com, 2011) Family and marriage counselors also need to be active listeners; they need to be able to understand and focus on what their patients are saying and avoiding interrupting while a patient is speaking. (mymajors.com, 2011) Critical thinking is helpful for identifying problems and logically finding a solution. Family and marriage therapists are responsible for speaking clearly and in a way that patients can understand. (mymajors.com, 2011) Personality is extremely important and helpful in a career as a family and marriage therapist. Integrity is critical when entering any career; therapists are expected to be ethical and remain professional. (mymajors.com, 2011) Family and marriage therapists should be dependable and have self-control; they need to be committed to obligations and able to keep their emotions in check while working with others. (mymajors.com, 2011) Stressful situations are bound to occur sometime throughout a therapist’s career, keeping composure and accepting criticism is key to handling these situations. (mymajors.com, 2011)

I am a Residential Counselor specializing in situational assessments, conflict resolution and effective communication. I'm organized and energetic with over two years of experience working with clients in the milieu environment. Highly involved caregiver committed to a proactive and hands-on approach in assisting staff. Ambitious with excellent research, time management and problem solving skills. Versatile, adaptable and adept at working effectively with children and families. Excellent at juggling multiple tasks and working under pressure. Motivated with wide-ranging abilities relating to animal care including pet sitting, and basic training

My future career objective is to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and provide therapeutic services in the emerging market of FARR certified recovery residences. I advocate the importance of recovery residences and want to bring clinical services to all levels to promote the health and well-being of individuals every step of the way on their journey through recovery.

Applying my expert knowledge and skills, during clinical and after earning my license, I will work with an assortment of ages, deficiencies, miscellaneous and multiethnic people. I will go all-out to work with different therapists to acquire new perspectives, in a variation of circumstances and environments. My efforts will develop my competence of self-reflection, by providing day-to-day experiences to catalyze development, life-enhancing engagements, and trained socialization. I will achieve my aspiration to positively help individuals, gain or reinstate freedom, accrediting to a more filling quality of life. After getting my license, a continuous goal I have, is to enlarge and grow, all through a lifetime of practice, by attending numerous workshops. When significantly knowledgeable and well established, I will focus on unmet job-related and educational needs in societies that lack easily reachable services. Goals I have will determinedly be adapted and augmented, as I continue to realize my fortes, desires, and distinct aptitudes in my distinctive career path. Outlining future goals, they will revolve around permanent socialization and information, in Occupational

Each of the employment positions I have been in the behavioral health field and involved direct work with the clients allowing me to gain professional experience. My career choices have also lead me consisted of several positions in the Human Service field. For over ten years I managed a group home for adults with Intellectual Disabilities/Developmental Disabilities. After leaving the employer I began completing mental health skill building support. This allowed for me to gain experience with clients suffering from many different disorders and provided insight into their daily lives.

It takes very special people to want to make a difference in people’s lives, to want to help them to be better. Some people seek to become counselors after overcoming a most important life challenge. The individuals that seek the profession of marriage and family therapy do not think of this work as a job or career, more typically a constellation of life experiences that demand explanation and a sense that others seek one out for assistance and emotional sustenance become driving forces leading one to counseling profession (An Invitation to Counseling Work).

“Wow! You have overcome so much in your life!,” “I can’t even believe they are your parents, you’ve done so well for yourself!” These are just a few of the comments I have received over the past few years. As if my father’s battle with Bipolar Disorder, drug addiction and PTSD and my mother’s drug addiction and major depression somehow defines who I am. Over the past three years, I accomplished things which no one expected of me.

I have a Masters of Arts in counseling from Maryville University and bachelors of arts from Governors State University. Due to working with youth outreach programs, in mentoring capacities, within hospital and treatment setting, within residential settings, and within higher education I am trained to work with individual and couples of varying abilities. I also have extensive knowledge and sensitivity in working with people with trauma survivors, anxiety and depression, adolescents and families, sexual and gender minorities (BDSM and LGBTQ), and monogamous and polyamorous couples. I have experience working with clients in art therapy, DBT therapy, and in groups.

My desire to complete a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy stems from my compassion to try to help and guide those who have marital issues. Also I have a passion to help families who are facing familial difficulties. I am a firm believer in the saying “all healthy family have issues”. It is okay to have problems it is how you work through the problems as a family that will determine a family dynamic. This degree will help me in my social work endeavors because my concentration was clinical with a specialization in families and children. The doctoral degree in marriage and family therapy will give me an opportunity to further my knowledge and ability to help those who are in need. After I graduate I plan on taking the licensing exam for my LMFT license. I plan on using my degrees, social work, LMFT license and experience to start my own group practice. The research question I may want to answer for my dissertation is