I know the saying is almost cliche at this point but I have to say it: time FLYS! I cannot believe summer is coming to an end. This has been an extremely productive summer full of educational and personal growth. I took three classes over the summer and continued working on a psychometric synthesis. Within those classes I have learned so much about the profession, human development, and also myself. Let's break down each class.
I took Group Counseling as maymaster class. For Vanderbilt, a maymester is a full class condensed into the month of May (essentially 16 weeks worth of information condensed in ~9 days)! Talk about a busy time! What an informative class. Group counseling is a huge part of my future occupation, and I really enjoyed learning about it. There are so many considerations, dynamics, and influences. There is also beautiful power that comes from the group process that I learned not only from reading text, but by being engulfed in group with the other individuals in my class. The final project for this class consisted of writing out a proposed 8-week psychedocautional group. My final project was on the topic of building positive self esteem for 5th graders and tapped out at 86 pages! It can be found in the projects section of this website if you are interested in checking it out.
The next two courses I took that lasted the entire summer were Appraisal and Assessment and Developmental Approach to Grief and Loss. Both are such critical and informative classes. I find assessment super interesting so I was happy to have a class that actually teaches us how to use assessments and interpret them so we can really help the clients that we will see one day. The class was heavy full of information, all of which necessary, but it definitely kept me busy studying!
I cannot put into words how wonderful and transformative taking grief and loss was for me. I find myself consistently being attuned to people, friends/family/coworkers/clients, much better than I was before. I also find myself picking up on loss more in what I am reading about, watching on TV, or listening to. The skills I have developed in this class have really made me feel more comfortable with the topic and working with people who have experienced loss. I also now am aware that loss isn't just physical loss! I experienced so much growth and insight while being in this class. All I can say is that it was transformative.
While my summer was busy with academics I spent a lot of time reflecting on personal growth I have experienced just in the one year being in this program. I truly see why our degree will be human development counseling. We grow, we are constantly interacting with our environment and others and as such, are having experiences that affect our future development. One thing I have especially loved learning about is the intersectionality of our identities and the ways in which they interact and influence our reactions and perceptions to events that come our way. We are all unique individuals and it is just so beautifully complex.
All my love,
LeAnn
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