Hello! So, I’ve seen the other journals that have been posted and realize that I never offered you all the ability to provide me with feedback. So…

Is there anything in particular you would like for be to write about?
Do you want to hear more about classes, Philadelphia, my general experience?

Please let me know!

On Monday, I was able to talk to some students and faculty about the second year program in Professional Counseling and Psychology. We were able to hear about student experiences in the program and in their internship. The internships sounded very interesting and are 20 hours per week. This year, students were placed in mental health and college counseling facilities. By Wednesday, I finished my essay and applied to the program. If everything works out, next year, I will look forward to gaining more knowledge and experience working with clients!

In our practicum class this semester, we are focusing on psychological disorders covered in the DSM-IV-TR. This week, we had two guests come to class to speak with us about bipolar disorder. One of the guest speakers was a psychiatrist and psychologist and we were able to hear how he treats people with the bipolar disorder through medication and psychological education. It was a very interesting discussion because we were able to gain some insight into how clients experience bipolar disorder.

This week was all about comps! A few of us got together to quiz each other and study for the exam on three separate occasions. On Friday, we took the exam and celebrated the week’s culmination! It is so nice to be finished studying, but we will have to wait for 4-6 weeks to receive our results.

After the exam, I figured that I earned some time off and decided to go exploring in Northern Liberties. (Northern Liberties is a great area that is just beyond the Old City section of Philadelphia.) We went to a Spanish tapas restaurant on Saturday night. We had to wait for an hour to be seated, but it was worth it! The food was awesome and the sangria was amazing!

Well, I need to get back to writing a reflection paper that is due tomorrow in my School-to-Career class. The paper is about my decisions and career path. (I’ve been putting off my school work all weekend!)

It has been a crazy few weeks to be in the Psychological Services program. Our comprehensive exams are next Friday at 9:00 a.m., so we’ve been preparing and reviewing information from last semester. A large group of us got together and divided into three smaller groups. Each group was responsible for a different subject area that will be covered on the exam. Within the three smaller groups, each person took a chapter, or week’s worth of information, and developed an outline of this information. We are compiling our outlines and are making one large study guide. So, this weekend will be devoted to reviewing, studying and probably stressing out a little bit!

My practicum is going really well! I have been able to sit in on a few different career assessment sessions and have taken some of the career assessment tests myself. It has been really interesting to see my results on the assessment tests and weigh my responses. Through this experience, I’ve been able to gain some insight into how a client might feel in hearing his/her assessment test results.

Well, back to preparing for class today! Until next week…