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Student handbook (Table of contents) (On-line forms) |
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology ("MAC") The
MAC student handbook: Students occasionally find themselves on an emotional plateau near the middle of the program, and sometimes near the middle of a semester. This is unfortunate, but not unusual. As a psychology student, you have a number of tools that can help you battle this problem. The first is understanding the Law of the Harvest. The second is developing realistic, rather than dysfunctional, goals. The third is learning and applying principles of self-care. The Law of the Harvest
The way to get the maximum from the graduate school experience is by putting as much commitment into your study and developing as positive an attitude as possible. If your sow a lot, then you will reap a lot, but if your sow little, how can you expect to reap a bounteous harvest? Most students enter the program with a high level of motivation, a keen enthusiasm to learn, and a strong commitment to enhancing their present or future employment. But, while the individual motivations for entering the MAC program may vary considerably, the attitude should be a common one. This is the pivotal factor in predicting success.What are the characteristics that best describe the ideal attitude? Perhaps they include a belief that learning is fun — and rewarding.
As with most of life's experiences, what you get out of the MAC Program has a direct relationship to what you put into it. With an attitude of enthusiasm, eagerness, inquisitiveness, and commitment, you have infinite potential for personal and educational enrichment. But perhaps more important is the potential benefit for your clients or co-workers. "Doing what is required" at a minimal level will not serve your clients' best interests. It is they who ultimately will reap the rewards of your extra efforts. Be realistic, not co-dependent, in your goals Many students, especially those with a clinical orientation, approach a career in the helping professions with a missionary zeal. They have felt some kind of inner call to bless the lives of others. There is nothing inherently wrong with such a motivation. However, if you have ideas or feelings like these, it would be an excellent idea to make sure that your motives for working in the field of counseling psychology are truly healthy. Co-dependency is a much over-used expression. Developed by Sharon Wegscheider-Cruise to describe the emotional and behavioral patterns of those who live with alcoholic family members, the term has come to have a broader meaning. Essentially, you are co-dependent if you base decisions for what you think, feel, or do, on the expected reactions of people who are highly significant to you (your life choices depend on the reactions of others — hence, "co-dependent"). Co-dependent students (and therapists) often seek to remove the pain of others. But, what if the client's pain is a necessary agent for therapeutic change? Too often, therapists who try to remove the pain of others are merely masking their own pain. It is important that you are able to derive satisfaction through counseling. However, it is neither ethically appropriate nor mentally healthy to deal with your own unfinished business as you try to provide therapy to others. Finally, many students believe that they should be able to help every client. But, the truth is that, despite your best intentions, you will not reach some clients. This may not be your fault, at all. Rather, a client's failure to change may be due to intangibles, such as differences in personality factors or styles. Perhaps someone else may reach that client, as you will reach someone that another therapist didn't. Realize, too, that some people's problems are simply not solvable — at least not in 50 minute, weekly counseling sessions. One sign of your professional growth is your realization of, and relative comfort with, this fact. Co-dependent students judge themselves externally, by whether their clients change or not. You will be better served by judging your performance by internal standards. Some MAC students develop irrational expectations for themselves. Don't do that! According to Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational-Emotive Therapy, the disturbed feelings that result from unrealistic expectations will "interfere with effective performance, make your work far more difficult than it has to be, and ultimately may result in a progressive loss of regard for your clients and yourself." Ellis identified five major irrational ideas or expectations:
According to Albert Ellis,
His advice?
MAC Program coursework, along with your individual therapy, will assist you in doing this. Learn principles of self-care Important for any discussion of avoiding burn-out is the need to learn, and practice, principles of adequate self-care. As a student in psychology, you are encouraged, even expected, to care for yourself in all areas: educationally, emotionally, and psychologically.
1. Educational self-care: Although there are dramatic variations in the experiential, personal, and educational backgrounds of the graduate students, the MAC program, like any educational endeavor, must cater to the common denominator. The ultimate responsibility for your education must rest with you, the individual student. This is true whether the courses or internship expectations seem overwhelming and cover unfamiliar territory with excessive speed or seem to lack challenge. Take the lead in identifying your own learning needs and objectives, extend yourself beyond minimum expectations, and strive to be open to constructive criticism and suggestions. If you perceive a problem don't complain to other students in the halls, or even to the MAC Director. Instead, approach your faculty member or On-site Supervisor directly. As mental health educators, the MAC faculty expect and advocate open, direct, and honest interpersonal communication. 2. Emotional self-care implies expecting, and allowing, your feelings to emerge as a natural product of academically related activities. Emotional health may mean that you take time out for recreation, budget adequate time to meet your varied demands, seek, and receive, consultation when necessary, or mobilize your support systems. Academic achievement, without some emotional nurturance and growth, represents failure in a mental health-oriented graduate program, such as the MAC program. 3. Psychological self-care; means that you need to experience being on the receiving end of counseling. Although academic credit is not given for receiving therapy, the faculty urge all graduate students to seek and obtain their own personal psychotherapy, going well beyond merely completing the MAC therapy requirement (see the end of Chapter One). This practice will become a part of your on-going, lifelong, personal and professional development. The principle is that care of others must begin with care of self. This is true at all times, but especially when you face stress, experience unrealistic expectations, or encounter your own issues in the course of your graduate studies. Keys to sanity in this area of avoiding burnout include:
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Email contact: (MAC@stmartin.edu) |
The Law of the Harvest is
an old one. It simply states that "you reap what you
sow."
Think, for a minute, about the
joy of learning that is evident in pre-schoolers.
The TV series "Sesame Street" exploits
the delight and energy of childhood and
transforms it into powerful and rapid learning.
What is there about adolescent/adult education
that seems to turn so many students off? The
faculty at Saint Martin's are committed, as much as
possible, to reverse this negative process. It is
their goal to bring back some of the genuine fun
and enthusiasm typical of children's learning.
You, the student, can help in this goal in many
ways. Some ways that you can assist in this
include:
Although this may seem
obvious, several points can be made for each of
these areas.