Term Paper on "Personal Statement to Enter the Master Degree Program"

Term Paper 4 pages (1381 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Personal Statement

For as long as I can remember, I have been dedicated to the idea of helping people, and I have tried to do so in a variety of ways. However, I have come away from many of my helping experiences with a vague sense of dissatisfaction, unsure whether I have been able to provide any meaningful assistance to those people whom I have tried to help. Initially, I felt as if this dissatisfaction came from my being overly ambitious; in my youth, I was committed to helping in large scale ways and donated time and money to large-scale relief efforts. The problem was that those large problems never seemed to be abated, regardless of how much energy I put into helping solve them. Tired of not seeing results, I began trying to help people on an individual scale. I became the "go-to" person for people in distress, and tried to help them in any way that I could. The problem with those situations is that I often found myself solving people's problems, rather than helping them learn how to solve them, and the results were static: there was never any change in greater behavior and the people I helped would often find themselves in similar situations. One thing that I did come to understand is that it is impossible to heal a community if you cannot heal its members. Another thing I understood is that, despite my good intentions, what I was doing was simply not working. I realized that something had to change, which is why I decided to become a psychologist and concentrate on community counseling. I believe that the education I will receive in order to obtain my degree will give me the skills that I need to achieve my personal, professional, and educational goals.

My primary educational goal is to learn how to truly help the individual. My desire is to learn the skills necessary to teach someone to recognize bad choices and how to make better choices. I want to learn how to avoid substituting my judgment for the judgment of another, and, instead, help them learn to use their skills, knowledge, and resources, to make better decisions about their own lives. Of course, in order to do so, I will have to learn a greater understanding of human psychology. Because so much of community counseling involves substance abuse, I hope to learn about various types of addiction, different treatment options, and the difficulties that substance abusers face in the real world. In addition, I want to get a basic and broad understanding of the entire spectrum of mental disorders. Only once I am familiar with the wide variety and spectrum of mental disorders, do I feel that I would be competent to counsel people. This education would also give me the knowledge necessary to know when a potential client's problems are beyond my scope and ability. For example, I am already aware that certain mental illnesses respond best to medication, and that to treat a client with such an illness, I would need the assistant of a psychiatrist or other medical doctor.

My secondary educational goal is to learn how to have a career in a helping profession without burning out or extending too much of myself. Intellectually, I understand that I cannot solve another person's problem, merely help them find the solution. However, I still find it difficult to determine how much help is appropriate to give. I understand that, though not listed as a specific class, learning separation from clients is an essential element in a counseling program, and that internship and laboratory hours, and the mentoring relationships that develop in those settings, are essential for learning those skills. In fact, Springfield's emphasis on practical experience and internship is what has made it my first choice for a Master's program, because I believe practical skills are at least as important as formal education.

Once I have met my educational goals, my professional goal is to use those skills to obtain a position as a community educator and outreach counselor. Currently, I have an interest in three different areas of community… READ MORE

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