Education Preparing for This Leg of Career

¶ … education preparing for this leg of career development. I not only attained undergraduate work in Psychology and obtained my B.A. But I have fine tuned my value to this program by working in fields that dovetail with my eventual career goals as well. I attended college and got my undergraduate degree while working with children and adolescents so the combined experience and knowledge would make me a strong candidate for entry to this program.

I believe that education alone is not enough, nor is work experience. I planned my life to incorporate both so by the time I reached this point I would not only be sure I wanted to become a psychotherapist, I knew I had what it took to succeed as one. I believe that my educational choices as well as my employment choices demonstrate that desire.

The completion of this program will provide a strong foundation for a career in the field of psychology. When coupled with my life and work experience, I believe that this program can provide the vehicle for a solid and productive career helping others. My personal development would be furthered by the completion of this program because it would allow me to attain the education needed to do the best that I can do in the field. I have always worked in helping capacities. As a worker in group homes and with the underprivileged I realized the importance of providing the proper resources. The completion of this program will assist me in gaining the confidence and practical experience in locating and utilizing resources for my future clients. My personal goals have always been to spend my career bettering the lives of as many people as I can and this program will give me an advantage in being able to do that. My ultimate goal is to open and operate a group home for children. The completion of this program will give added clout not only from a therapist capacity but from a business standpoint when the time comes to apply for grant money to fund the home.

My completing this program would benefit the profession because it will provide another person to work in the field. I have worked with children in many capacities and I believe that I will be an asset to the profession because of my dedication to the children and adolescents in need of support.

I believe that completing the program will benefit society as well. If I can get the best education possible, and use that education to provide years as a career professional society will be served with the people I help put back on the right track. As they become productive members of society then society as a whole will benefit from their contributions.

I have many experiences that have prepared me to become a psychotherapist in the field of mental health. I have worked youth populations for many years. I have been utilized in day care settings, as well as adolescent mental health facilities. I have worked in group homes, foster care, and with the underprivileged. All of these experiences have allowed me to be absolutely sure that I want to become a psychotherapist. In addition it has demonstrated my ability to commit and follow through on my commitments. Becoming a psychotherapist is hard work, not something for the faint at heart. My years of dedication to various helping positions already demonstrate the ability to commit to a task and see it through to completion. While many people have lived sheltered existences and are unprepared for diversity in given populations, I am ready. I have worked with many diverse populations and at this point in life have fully embraced the idea of difference. People who are different from myself do not scare me, nor do they intimidate me. I am open to the differences I will encounter and ready to meet those challenges head on.

I have many experiences working with children. I worked in a day care setting where my responsibilities included assistant teaching of preschool. During that experience I worked with children between 2 and 5 years old. I learned to apply various behavior and psychology models to the children's development and I began to understand the baseline of childhood development. I worked with many families that were poverty stricken and I could see how that lifestyle eventually impacted the children in the center. I was aware of the stress level of the parents and I could see how it affected the child on a daily basis. It is a job that taught me about location of resources because I was responsible for finding funding for many of the preschool materials and programs.

When I worked in group homes I saw children who were completely without the usual family support systems. I saw how that lack of family impacted the children involved and how the genders differed in the way they reacted to that lack of support. I witnessed depression first hand in many children and learned that often times anger and rebellion is actually rooted in severe sadness and hopelessness. In the group home I was responsible for providing supervision and I had to learn to maintain the line of professionalism. While the children talked with me, shared their feelings with me and spent time with me, it was important that I maintain a professional eye and distance so that I could be the most effective worker possible in my capacity as a supervisor. I saw other workers who got too close, or became less like professionals and more like friends and saw the conflict that caused for the children who really needed structured and defined roles with their workers.