So as you may already know, this past week was Thanksgiving break, and it was a well deserved vacation for everyone! Sadly, this vacation included working on papers for both group class and interventions class, because no vacation is complete without homework. But that's just part of the student life.
Thanksgiving was so much fun! I traveled to New York to spend the weekend with my family, most of whom I hadn't seen since before I left for Philadelphia in August, so it was really good to get to spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Especially fun was the game night I went to on Saturday night, where my cousins and I played a whole bunch of games together at one cousin's house. Since my first cousins are all much older than I am, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to spend time with them, so I was especially grateful to be able to hang out with them, even if just for a few hours. One of the big benefits of being in Philadelphia is that my family is only a few hours away, so I can go visit whenever I want.
What I really wanted to talk about in this post, however, is what I'm thankful for here at Penn GSE:
1. Meeting and getting to know the other members of my cohort. It seems like just yesterday we were strangers, but in just a short amount of time I have met people with whom I hope to remain friends long after this program concludes. We've stuck by each other through hard times and celebrated with each other through the good times, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am for that.
2. Realizing how perfect a fit this program is for me. Mind you, I applied only to this program, and I did not visit the campus before accepting my offer of admission. I realized I might want to be a counselor deep into my fourth year of college, and I just went with that whim, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Every day in this program, I realize how much I love counseling, and how ready I am to start making a difference in the lives of the clients with whom I work.
3. The African American community. I never thought I would feel so welcome and so comfortable in my own skin, because my whole life I've been told that I was an "Oreo". I wasn't "black enough". But coming here to Penn has taught me that I can be who I am; that doesn't change my identity. That is a lesson I am going to keep with me for as long as I live.
4. The professors. You just can't find people like Dr. Marsha Richardson and Dr. Ariane Thomas anywhere else, or Dr. Christina Washington (who is probably 36 but appears to be 22). These professors have made every class a joy to attend, and have shown me that being a professional with a doctorate degree does not mean you have to lose your sense of humor. They are all role models who I aspire to be like in the future.
As I look back on the past few months, I see how lucky I have been to be a part of this program and this school, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
You CAN Sit With Us! (And You Should)
So today I want to write a post about spending time with the other members of the cohort, and to do so I have channeled my inner Mean Girl...except in reverse. So instead of telling people "You can't sit with us!" I'm saying " You CAN sit with us!" And you also SHOULD.
Last week on Friday, we had a karaoke night planned by the leaders of our division, Applied Psychology and Human Development. It was so much fun! A few of us met up beforehand and then went down to the karaoke bar together, and when we got there we sang songs loudly and with reckless abandon. Sadly though, there were only 5 of us there (the usual suspects).
This makes me so sad! I wish more members of the cohort would come out and chill with us. I love getting to hang out with the usual crowd, but it would be such a nice change of pace to hang out with someone new, and I would really enjoy getting to know the members of the cohort with whom I haven't yet had a chance to interact.Also, we have so much fun when we hang out! I know some of our cohort members have other friends and obligations in the area that keep them from hanging out with us, but others are sitting at home alone when they could be chilling with the Kounseling Krew (I know you like that new slang).
Welp...hopefully more people will come out to the Friendsgiving we're having on Friday. Look out for pictures next week!
Last week on Friday, we had a karaoke night planned by the leaders of our division, Applied Psychology and Human Development. It was so much fun! A few of us met up beforehand and then went down to the karaoke bar together, and when we got there we sang songs loudly and with reckless abandon. Sadly though, there were only 5 of us there (the usual suspects).
This makes me so sad! I wish more members of the cohort would come out and chill with us. I love getting to hang out with the usual crowd, but it would be such a nice change of pace to hang out with someone new, and I would really enjoy getting to know the members of the cohort with whom I haven't yet had a chance to interact.Also, we have so much fun when we hang out! I know some of our cohort members have other friends and obligations in the area that keep them from hanging out with us, but others are sitting at home alone when they could be chilling with the Kounseling Krew (I know you like that new slang).
Welp...hopefully more people will come out to the Friendsgiving we're having on Friday. Look out for pictures next week!
Friday, November 14, 2014
Do You Wanna Be An Analyst?
This week has been a psychoanalytic kind of week.
On Sunday, I went with a few other members of my cohort to a roundtable with the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. The discussion was all about how we can use our personal experiences to benefit the client. It was interesting because we've been learning a lot about how disclosing our personal information can be problematic in therapy, and because we have learned that psychoanalysis is the theory most adamantly against self-disclosure in therapy. According to Freud, the therapist has to be a blank slate with no experiences of their own so that the client can transfer images of their family members onto the therapist.
At the roundtable, however, we learned that countertransference (when the therapist transfers images of people in their own life onto the client) can actually help us in a lot of ways, for example it can allow us to better understand the client's experience. One member of the roundtable spoke about how he had a hard time coming out as gay to his parents. In therapy, after inadvertently bringing up a center for gay men that the therapist frequents, the client revealed that his son was gay. This brought up an entirely new aspect of the client's life that the therapist could help with.
I thought of another view on the use of self-disclosure in therapy when I spoke to a friend who has actually worked with a legitimate Freudian psychoanalyst, one who, unlike the professionals at the roundtable, believes in the therapist as a blank soundboard who supplies no real input in the therapy session. Just the thought of such a therapeutic relationship seems so dry and meaningless! I definitely subscribe much more to theories that place importance on a mutual and collaborative therapeutic relationship, and on at least some measure of therapist self-disclosure. Of course, we still have to make sure that our own disclosure doesn't take away from the client's work. It's the client's therapy after all, not yours!
But one big thing I think everyone should know about this psychoanalytic roundtable is the opportunity it provided for us to meet people from other grad school programs and practicing psychologists in the area. We actually connected with someone getting their PsyD at Widener and I hope we get to hang out with him again and attend other events on the use of different techniques in psychotherapy. After all, how else are we going to become the best therapists we can be?
On Sunday, I went with a few other members of my cohort to a roundtable with the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. The discussion was all about how we can use our personal experiences to benefit the client. It was interesting because we've been learning a lot about how disclosing our personal information can be problematic in therapy, and because we have learned that psychoanalysis is the theory most adamantly against self-disclosure in therapy. According to Freud, the therapist has to be a blank slate with no experiences of their own so that the client can transfer images of their family members onto the therapist.
At the roundtable, however, we learned that countertransference (when the therapist transfers images of people in their own life onto the client) can actually help us in a lot of ways, for example it can allow us to better understand the client's experience. One member of the roundtable spoke about how he had a hard time coming out as gay to his parents. In therapy, after inadvertently bringing up a center for gay men that the therapist frequents, the client revealed that his son was gay. This brought up an entirely new aspect of the client's life that the therapist could help with.
I thought of another view on the use of self-disclosure in therapy when I spoke to a friend who has actually worked with a legitimate Freudian psychoanalyst, one who, unlike the professionals at the roundtable, believes in the therapist as a blank soundboard who supplies no real input in the therapy session. Just the thought of such a therapeutic relationship seems so dry and meaningless! I definitely subscribe much more to theories that place importance on a mutual and collaborative therapeutic relationship, and on at least some measure of therapist self-disclosure. Of course, we still have to make sure that our own disclosure doesn't take away from the client's work. It's the client's therapy after all, not yours!
But one big thing I think everyone should know about this psychoanalytic roundtable is the opportunity it provided for us to meet people from other grad school programs and practicing psychologists in the area. We actually connected with someone getting their PsyD at Widener and I hope we get to hang out with him again and attend other events on the use of different techniques in psychotherapy. After all, how else are we going to become the best therapists we can be?
Saturday, November 8, 2014
The Open House!
Today was a very big day for the admissions office: Open House Day!!
I think it's safe to say we were all OVERWHELMED by how many people came out. We had such an amazing turnout, about 126 people! This was my first big admissions event, so I had no idea what to expect. I actually didn't get a chance to visit the university before I accepted my offer of admission, so this event made me wish that I had. It was so nice to be able to interact with the prospective students and show them my passion for GSE and for my program.
I feel like coming out to the open house is, if anything, the perfect way to go from being unsure of whether you're going to apply to GSE to turning in your completed application. I so wish I'd had the chance to talk to people in my program and see how they felt about it and what it was like to live in Philadelphia. I kind of got lucky (here and in my undergrad) because I didn't visit before accepting my admission offer.
I think one thing I took from this event that made a lot of sense is how important it is to ensure that the graduate program you apply for FITS. You don't have much of a chance to decide whether GSE fits you unless you come for a visit. And I hope we helped the prospective students who visited today to decide whether GSE is a good fit or not.
One thing I really wish I could have done differently would be to spend more time talking to the prospectives who were interested in the counseling program! I know we had ambassadors to help with that part, mingling with them at the beginning of the event, but I think my favorite part of this assistantship with admissions is having the opportunity to interact with people, especially people who are interested in counseling and share my passion for helping people. I did get more of a chance to talk to the prospective students when we led the campus tours after the event, but I hope next time I can take more of a role in telling them how I feel about GSE, CMHS, Philadelphia, and the whole admissions process they're going through.
To anyone reading this blog who is thinking about applying to GSE, I'd say the best way to decide is to come here and see it for yourself! Or talk to one of us and we can help you see the student perspective.
Thinking back to undergrad, THAT'S why it was so easy to warm up to UVA. My cousin went there, and when he spoke about it, he spoke with such genuine affection for the school, and now, when I talk to my own younger cousin about UVA, I have my own genuine affection for it, same for GSE. So anything you want to know, just ask! And (shameless plug) visit www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp if you're interested in finding out about our open house in the spring or any other events we host. We seriously love seeing and talking to you, and it's really the best way to see whether GSE is the place for you.
I think it's safe to say we were all OVERWHELMED by how many people came out. We had such an amazing turnout, about 126 people! This was my first big admissions event, so I had no idea what to expect. I actually didn't get a chance to visit the university before I accepted my offer of admission, so this event made me wish that I had. It was so nice to be able to interact with the prospective students and show them my passion for GSE and for my program.
I feel like coming out to the open house is, if anything, the perfect way to go from being unsure of whether you're going to apply to GSE to turning in your completed application. I so wish I'd had the chance to talk to people in my program and see how they felt about it and what it was like to live in Philadelphia. I kind of got lucky (here and in my undergrad) because I didn't visit before accepting my admission offer.
I think one thing I took from this event that made a lot of sense is how important it is to ensure that the graduate program you apply for FITS. You don't have much of a chance to decide whether GSE fits you unless you come for a visit. And I hope we helped the prospective students who visited today to decide whether GSE is a good fit or not.
One thing I really wish I could have done differently would be to spend more time talking to the prospectives who were interested in the counseling program! I know we had ambassadors to help with that part, mingling with them at the beginning of the event, but I think my favorite part of this assistantship with admissions is having the opportunity to interact with people, especially people who are interested in counseling and share my passion for helping people. I did get more of a chance to talk to the prospective students when we led the campus tours after the event, but I hope next time I can take more of a role in telling them how I feel about GSE, CMHS, Philadelphia, and the whole admissions process they're going through.
To anyone reading this blog who is thinking about applying to GSE, I'd say the best way to decide is to come here and see it for yourself! Or talk to one of us and we can help you see the student perspective.
Thinking back to undergrad, THAT'S why it was so easy to warm up to UVA. My cousin went there, and when he spoke about it, he spoke with such genuine affection for the school, and now, when I talk to my own younger cousin about UVA, I have my own genuine affection for it, same for GSE. So anything you want to know, just ask! And (shameless plug) visit www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp if you're interested in finding out about our open house in the spring or any other events we host. We seriously love seeing and talking to you, and it's really the best way to see whether GSE is the place for you.
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