Reviewing My Experiences - Essay Example

Metanoia Institute & Middlesex Doctorate in Psychotherapy by Professional Studies Professional Knowledge Paper Module DPY5547 Cohort 12 September 2014 Submitted By Mitra Babak Student No: M00287567 Date of Submission: September2014 Reviewing My Experiences Introduction This paper reviews some of my personal experiences that I had in my professional development gained from the PK (Professional Knowledge) seminars that I attended. I attended PK seminars in order to fulfill some of the necessary requirements for my degree of Doctorate in Psychotherapy that requires every student to attend PK seminars. As such, in the Final Project, my focus is to reflect upon some of the major perceptions and expectations that I hold while attending these PK seminars. Furthermore, I also focus on changing other aspects of my professional career, such as conducting a self-evaluation of these expectations and perceptions. My other focus area while attending these PK seminars were some of the significant aspects gained, especially in relation to the impact of the PK seminars on the knowledge I gained. The experiences I got from these PK seminars will play an imperative role in drafting my Final Project as the knowledge gained from these PK seminars contributes significantly to both my personal, as well as professional development. In addition, it enables me to create a pathway that determines the most appropriate treatment alternative to a number of my multicultural clients. Several factors characterize my experiences in psychotherapy development. Some these factors include various personal perceptions and expectations relating to the subject of psychotherapy. I had a change of tune in these perceptions once I enrolled for the doctorate in psychotherapy degree program, ass this provided me with a platform to engage my clients with a higher thinking and research level as opposed to my previous level of education. The context ot this Professional Knowledge seminars covered much o my understanding on some of the key elements that consist or comprise the field of psychotherapy, and the relationship this has with other major aspect of cognitive psychology and therapy. This personal reflection empowers me to visualize and understand the changes in my perceptions and expectations as they occurred during the PK seminars in relation to the whole course on my study program. My studies required me to work with people from all levels, such as couples, individual clients, as well as groups, which I did mostly in 2001. Three years later in 2004, I developed a culture-based program called MEFCSE (Middle Eastern Family Counseling Service in Ealing) for my private practice. As such, my participation in these PK seminars presented me with another platform to learn more, as well as gain a considerable amount of knowledge useful in my private practice. These PK seminars also enabled me to understand the role played by the various specialties from the experiences shared by the presenters that facilitated these PK seminars, which was quite different compared to class sessions. Perceptions and expectations I realized that a considerable number of my colleagues were eager to attend these PK seminars. I too harbored much interest in these PK seminars, and they sure did not disappoint. For instance, the facilitators impressed me a great deal while they reviewed their personal backgrounds during these PK seminars. As such, I eagerly hoped with anticipation that I would have the grant opportunity to meet some of these established practitioners in order to appreciate and learn directly from them. This made me to prepare myself psychologically for these PK seminars and it sure did not disappoint because these PK seminars met my expectations at the end of it all. The main intention of this personal review is to discuss some of my experiences, knowledge, as well as established gain from these PK seminars. The process of personal development entail having a proper understanding of oneself in relation to both their intellectual, as well as proportional content. As such, the courses covered in these PK seminars provoked a remarkable and useful learning process in me, and in all other aspects of my life. This course stretched my intellectual and emotional presence in the activities in engaged in, thereby growing my understanding of the capacity and flexibility of valuable movements (Wampold, Minami, Baskin & Tierney 161). Completion of this doctorate degree gives me both significant joys, as well as a feeling of loss as I reflect on the value of time spent developing the various personal and professional elements in my life. However, I come out differently and empowered after going through all these programs, especially the PK seminars. These programs stretch me both emotionally and intellectually, thus forming a basis for the self-evaluation process where in review my personal experiences from the PK seminars. My attendance of these PK seminars provided me with an opportunity to explore various aspects of practical psychology, as well as those of related psychotherapy. The major consideration in this respect refers to the reflection on the confidence i developed in the practice. Furthermore, the experiences that i have had in transiting to the achievement of the doctorate of psychotherapy gave me a further leap into the continuum of my proficiency. My reflection from each of the professional PK seminars that I attended is that i developed in both confidence and capability thereby creating platform for the transition in establishing interconnected aspects of the engaged PK seminars. The PK seminars also enabled me to develop my professional aspect and as such, eliminate some of my negative perceptions and expectations that i always held towards the course, such as personal life changing PK seminars. The edge of these experiences creates a stretch in the extensive professional and personal development. Personally, I have a professional background in psychotherapy. As such, the opportunity to engage in PK seminars instituted in me a remarkable interest in the presenters of the PK seminars, as well as their personal backgrounds. I also evaluated the personal journeys taken by these presented in the various fields they participated. Taking an approach of these PK seminars from this perspective, I can confirm that I was very curious to see and experience the presenters, and interact with them at a personal level. My core interest in these presenters was to establish the extent to which they engaged their original training in the concepts that they presented scaling out to their personal and professional identity. The key interest entailed an establishment of the extent, as well as effectiveness of clinical psychology in training and beyond the backgrounds, as well as their achievements in the field. My expectations of these presenters in that they ought to be remarkably successful in the integration of their professional training in the concepts that they engage daily training. I currently hold on an understanding and reflection of the practice as a psychotherapist. My intentions are to initiate a personal development towards familiarizing myself with the course by growing the necessary experience. These factors contribute to my growth as a person, and in the establishment of my professional entity. The PK seminar sessions facilitate a platform of engaging accordingly in furthering my development in all aspects of the course as required by the doctoral program. This also incorporates my development in human expertise into a meaningful practice that will assist others and me (Wampold, Minami, Baskin & Tierney 159). The PK seminars courses include sessions facilitated by Miller Mair and Dr Maxine Daniels. These two focused their sessions on the core elements required in the practice, which is an alternative mode of psychological inquiry, and working on the development of empathy in the roles played by offenders. These presenters were crucial in creating a detailed platform for engaging the information entailed in the study, as well as that from personal experiences. The facilitation of this entire learning process was important in assisting to develop relatively different approaches to the professional practice, as well as in addressing the challenges encountered during the practice. Outcome from the PK seminars A. 12/ 02/2010 “Mindfulness and practitioner Research” (by Mark Williams) The presentation of cognitive therapy and mindfulness presented by Mark Williams was imperative in dispelling some of the negative perceptions that I held towards the PK seminar facilitators. Mark used his development in the subject of mindfulness and from his understanding of the cognitive theory. The cognitive behavior theory is one of the leading training courses offered in clinical psychology. This filed continues to become popular as the extension of the deepening CBT model in the extent of the therapeutic field entails professional development. My earlier perceptions and knowledge held towards the cognitive behavior therapy subject, and the material given by the presenter in this section of the PK seminar remains remarkably related to the psychology of evidence-based practice. The course of the CBT as confirmed by Mark confirmed my knowledge in this field, as well as its relation and relevance to my professional development. I also noted that Mark and his colleagues added to their presentation a remarkable content from personal efforts in order to ensure their presentations surpassed traditional programs. They relied on various frameworks of approach to the field of study thereby compelling the attendees of the PK seminar to participate accordingly so that they can gain content. I therefore gained remarkable knowledge in constituting personal intellectual development thereby advancing professionally. This influenced me both professionally as well as personally as I am now open minded to a variety of approaches in psychotherapy, as well as to the development of an affirmative attitude towards such PK seminars. Mark also shared the journey to his own relations and development, which guided my decisions regarding the same remarkably. However, Mark’s professional and personal stance did not meet my expectations. These contradictions provoked me to go into a session of self-reflection, which required me to engage in the process of personal identification. The examples he gave regarding his development and the assistance he gained from his colleagues also aroused a critical learning point for me. This development proved that Mark had a strong will and allegiance to the frameworks that established relations, alongside the therapists. I therefore, understand the course of his development. I also noted that he had compassionate attitude towards his self-evaluations. Nonetheless, I still left with the feeling that he was too afraid of relinquishing the original CBT model. Mark described his therapeutic relations as a carrier in order to present the valuable aspects of psychotherapy. as such, after observing the sections of the presentations that Mark gave, I found wondered whether I would have the same experience ten years in the future. His personal and professional transition was somewhat similar to what I envisioned for myself, considering that I have the potential trans-formative experience gained within the course of this doctorate program. The spiritual and emotional aspects constitute a key learning experience for the course. It creates a platform for understanding and comparing me and my personal development to that of Mark in the field of applying the training gained. I believe in having solid knowledge in certain subjects. In a variety of ways, the complexity of psychotherapeutic practice seemed unbearably challenging when I commenced my doctoral program. The choice to specialize in area progressed accordingly from both the workshops, as well as the PK seminars as I worked in psychotherapy programs. This entailed development and fine-tuning of my understanding of the entire practice, as well as shaping my knowledge through sharing it and participating in professional development. I struggled during the working systems as I made an effort to achieve the right level of knowledge that would define me as an expert through some essentials. Such knowledge would spear head my establishment such that I could speak on the subject matter of psychotherapy with due intelligence and mastery of the content as an expert. Professional Knowledge Knowledge development is the basis of the professional continuum. As such, this facilitates my entire identity as a professional, establishing my course in the therapy field, as well as in the working environment. However, I often found myself experiencing doubts due to the challenges in the practice, and in other several elements during the entire development process. Some of the challenges experienced made me wish to shift positions through evolution or devolution of knowledge into practice. Furthermore, I wanted to add and establish the visceral knowledge that would facilitate my reach to the brightness and understanding of the various forms and patterns of my mind. The new workshop that I was attending created a new experience and understanding towards the psychotherapeutic development in practice (Corey 61). This process institutes theoretical material and experiential development in redefining the whole course in my professional development. The framework of the practice as established during these workshops also facilitated the process of my development. This was through assisting me to evaluate the current positions that I held in the practice, as well as the perceptions as reflected in my working environment. This process also enabled me to discover an emerging element that caused me to reflect and ask myself some questions regarding the position and experience that I hold over the subject in consideration. Another element is my therapeutic development as professional, as well as other questions of positioning my mind concerning the entire process. The PK seminar enabled me to understand the entire development process by covering various topics and subjects during the workshop. This changed my attitude positively towards them. Therefore, evaluating the course of this understanding of the course workshop training, participation in this PK seminar was remarkably educative. The culmination of the workshop sessions is a factor to feature accordingly in the professional development, as well as, personal development processes. B. “Collective biography as a research method for Psychotherapists psycho-therapeutic research method,” Presented by Jane Speedy -19th March 2010 In the quest to have a better understanding of myself, I realized I had registered much improvement in the line of professional development and identity. As such, I became significantly aware of my personal need to hold onto, as well as to establish a personal grounding that stands out in synchrony with my persona. In addition, this understanding also allows me to institute the experience I gained and develop a self-belief that best facilitates my professional growth. The professional aspects and considerations in this course, which continue to grow from the course of this PK seminar, entail a practical psychologist specializing in the continuum of psychodynamic therapy. I hold that deep work comes with self and intimate relations in this career. Professional Knowledge This active specialization is significant to my professional development, and as such, I feel that I am identifying myself both at a personal level, as well as at a professional level. The work in progress in this development program entails professional maturity, which I continually gain from time to time as I continue with my professional practice, especially after I signed up for my doctoral program (Corey 59). My experience having worked earlier as a psychotherapist played an instrumental role in establishing my personal attributes. C. Friday 3rd May 2013 “Working with and researching victim empathy role plays with sex offenders in prison,” Presented by Dr Maxine Daniels Engaging in research work, as well as teaching the prospects of psychotherapy as my line of specialization, provides me with growth attributes that assist me in developing a strong professional ground. The professional that assisted me in establishing my knowledge during these PK seminars was Dr Maxine Daniels. She had essential skills in a variety of elements, as well as the differential approaches to appropriate care in psychology. This is a clear indication of her basic grounding and attributes that exhibited considerable success, especially through the way she presented her content. She managed to facilitate a detailed platform by engaging information from the content she prepared for the sessions to her personal experiences. Professional Knowledge This kind of facilitation in the learning process was imperative in establishing a holistic understanding of the PK seminar sessions. Judging from the outcome of the PK seminars, the understanding from these evaluations is the fact that the most successful and effective therapists are those who project their professional development, as well as work independently with a remarkable level of self-belief. This approach from the personal fit, as well as the meaningful development of one’s professional career, creates a meaningful framework for personal growth of the therapist and his or her client. This is because the approach creates an empathetic working relationship and environment between the therapist and his or her client. D. “Searching to Understand — another mode of psychological inquiry,” Presented by Miller Mair, on Friday 25th February 2011 In order to have a better understanding of the various concepts of professional identity, these PK seminars presented a great opportunity for me to experience and learn from the various presenters, as well as be in a better position to reflect and feel my own personal development progress and that of my other colleagues. One particular course that captured my interests in these PK seminars touching on personal development was the presentation made by Miller Mair. Miller focused his presentation “another mode of psychological inquiry.” This particular session of the PK seminar focused on describing the background of psychotherapy. This concept created a radiance of feelings within me in relation to the spacious aspects of my heart and my spirit, as well as my personal intellectual aspects. Previously, I had worked on a number of survey researches that had a variety of methods leading to the expansion and nourishment of mu personal concepts and development (Whelton 63). The presentation by Miller aroused a profound sense of thinking over the things that I already had knowledge of, as well as those things that I also hoped to achieve during my years in this practice. Furthermore, these workshops also facilitated my personal understanding of the consequential elements involved in psychotherapeutic understanding of the mind, as well as that expected from a therapist when offering care to a client. For instance, Miller created an attitude of engaging a persuasive approach during his session at the workshop. He focused on the varieties of effective alternative approaches to dealing with cases presented by clients. He argued that the persuasive approach was imperative in facilitating basic care to clients. Furthermore, these approaches also facilitate an appropriate communication strategy that enabled deeper understanding of varied scenarios in the practice, as well as addressing each care needs respectively without having trouble. This session of the PK seminar also facilitated various personal aspects of experiencing I, and my way of thinking thereby lessening my thoughts into space and personal aspects. The disappointing and tiring factors of this establishment were the fact that it gave too much attention and space for headrest and logic especially in easing the experience. Miller guided my personal development by allowing me to write about the various links that necessitate the much-needed experiences in refreshing and re-energizing my position. This PK seminar creates a disseminating platform for my research findings that i gained from the program. As such, i learnt that it was very important to establish the intellectual value, as well as understand the fundamentals of the course regarding psychotherapy. Miller assisted me to develop a better understanding of myself, as well as the aspect that does not constitute me, especially with respect to other alternative approaches in this practice. After this session, I began the process of sharing my personal appreciations, as well as favoring both my emotional and professional elements. I became a great admirer of Miller’s professional identity as well as his self-awareness. As such, the course entailed usage of both language and metaphor as the PK seminar sadly concluded. However, the PK seminar was very useful in developing my personal identity, as well as grounding me awareness both as an individual, as well as as a professional I now realize that this doctoral program only constitutes the start of my specialization to the potential future on my professional career as it unfolds. The aspect of intellectual development requires a high level of professionalism and knowledge that does not necessarily constitute a concrete and certain truth upon which to build another basis of arguments. Professional Knowledge As I started out the journey to acquire a doctorate program, my focus was to establish a solid ground as a foundation for this complex practice of psychotherapy. This determination enabled me to become a specialist in the practice of professional psychotherapy. As such, my attendance to these PK seminars and workshops enhanced my personal and professional development in the field. The PK seminars for this year were much better compared to those of the previous years. In addition, I particularly gained more prowesses in the field, as well as gained much better understanding, which are some of the key areas that shape the practice. The PK seminars were instrumental in such a way that they enabled me to develop a deeper understanding in the profession. The seminars also enabled me to fine-tune some of the core aspects of this practice, as well as shape my knowledge in order to take in the various processes that are key in sharing of this knowledge. I worked with a number of experienced persons in the field during these seminar, thereby learnt the availability of the varied positions that apply to the evaluation of the practice of psychotherapy. These processes entailed establishment of a solid grounding in the field with regards to the expertise, knowledge, and experience involved in digging down the information from a variety of sources reflected in my profession (Yalom 2010, p.89) This session focused on core elements required in the practice, as well as the alternative mode of psychological inquiry, and work on development of empathy in the roles played by offenders. The presenter played an important role in facilitating a detailed platform for engaging the information entailed in the study, as well as from personal experiences. The facilitation of this learning process was very crucial in assisting me to develop relatively different approaches to professional practice, as well as approaches to addressing the various challenges encountered within the practice. E. “Horses to Water: Doctoring the Profession by taking it Online—the Public and Private Impact of the Doctoral Journey,” Presented by Dr Kate Anthony, Friday 12th April 2013 Attending these PK seminars opened my memory to the variety of positions that I held from as early as my youthful days as a child. These positions were significant in growing me, as well as in establishing my core personal attributes that I still hold to this day. I can now appreciate the comments provided regarding the right route to take in order to achieve the maximum effectiveness possible experienced by therapists (DeLucia-Waack 76). The facilitation of this session by Dr. Kate Anthony assisted me to understand the need to my professional practice online, to communicate accordingly, both privately and as well as publicly, especially in the journey leading to doctoral studies. My doctoral development and work include personal factors geared at increasing awareness amongst the practical practice of psychotherapy, especially with the growing need to engage with the philosophies of life and growth Professional Knowledge My emphasis now is to focus on my experiential training aspects so that I can gain essential skills that will enable me to apply broader theoretical models especially in giving therapy, such as the use of online blog channels such as Skype. As such, my engagement in this session of the PK seminars aroused in me the growing feeling of humanity within the relations of working. Therefore, as a psychotherapist, I seek to establish this familiarity with respect to humanly involving ways within my field of experience. I also plan to put the little experience I have in online therapy to engage my clients through Skype and other social media platforms. The doctoral work is assisting me in moving toward this place of human expertise that is meaningful to the practice and others. “Supervision: the co-creation of an effective learning environment,” Presented by Maria Gilbert, 28th January 2011 Attending the PK seminar on the role of supervisory relationships facilitated by Maria Gilbert was an affirming experience for my development, both personal and professional. The course of this PK seminar sought to affirm the content, as well as establish its familiarity of territorial boundaries of the presenter and myself. In the course of this learning process, the observable factor is that it was a disappointment to my gain as it failed to meet the expectations I had over the PK seminar. The course PK seminar affirmed the content familiarity within the territorial boundaries in which my professional practice focuses. The PK seminar provoked my development towards dispelling various intense anticipations that I held while approaching the PK seminar sessions. Notably I felt disappointed while approaching the PK seminar as I vision it would be another boring expedition of learning as it happens in other usual training workshops. The courses offered during the PK seminar failed to challenge or provoke the intensity I anticipated as the PK seminar began. The PK seminar only affirmed the things that I already knew, failing to challenge my position and instill the drive to push further for more exploratory personal development, as well as, professional aspects. Additionally, I also left disappointed with the realization that I did not get to discover and understand more about the position that Maria held as the facilitator of the PK seminar, as well as, her personal journey towards developing those she mentors. Moreover, this PK seminar also instilled some positive attributes in me as I compare my position to the presenter. The realization that I gained from the presentation in this PK seminar entails that, I have a hesitation in establishing and developing my personal connection and develop the essential knowledge required in establishing any relation. Professional Knowledge In addition, I managed to develop and establish deeper aspects of myself. This might appear paradoxical especially in the sense that I failed to gain much knowledge towards my professional aspects from what the presenters gave. I came to the PK seminar with gains in aspects of understanding the disappointments, as well as conducting a thorough evaluation of myself. However, I later realized that my procedures in teaching psychotherapy and maintaining the solidity in the knowledge I had remains a remarkable point of strength towards my professional development (Rogers & Leonard, p.54). As such, I have to re-engage myself in order to grow the knowledge that I have, as well as become relational in developing learning environments that are effective. As such, this exponential PK seminar proved different as it instituted a rather exploratory approach to both professional and personal development aspects. The realizations that I gained from these developments also required that I show no hesitation towards the establishment of my personal connection, as well as the essential skills of relations as required within the practice. Conclusion My participation in this PK seminar proved a gainful insight for me to engage full in the development, as well as the establishment of my core personal attributes that would later prove useful in my professional endeavors. The critical elements to note in the studies from these PK seminars are that each PK seminar touched on a particular area of significance to the course of my personal and professional development. All the presenters brought on the table relevant topics to the doctorate program i was taking thereby facilitating a clearer understanding of the professional practice of psychotherapy. As such, i will seek to conduct a thorough evaluation of myself in the elemental comparative areas concerning the doctorate program professionalism and expectations. The course of this doctorate program plays a crucial role to my professional development, and these PK seminars were remarkably effective in facilitating my personal, as well as professional development in the entire program. The various platforms of engagement during the PK seminar provided me with a resolution to explore my personal attributes further, as well as in developing a framework for mu professional development. A major notable aspect of this study was the fact that each of the workshops in the PK seminars had an important are of significance to the course and development of mu professional practice. Each presenter came along with a relevant topic studied in my doctorate program. As such, I sought to evaluate myself in comparison to these professionals, as well as establish my whole standing on a professional level concerning the doctorate program that I am currently undertaking. These presenters evaluated a number of notable aspects in professional establishment thereby assisting me in dispelling successfully some on my perceptions that I used to hold towards this practice. They also managed to instill in me a more useful understanding of the practice. Therefore, from this self-evaluation process, I realized that the PK seminars were very useful as they assisted me to achieve the core objectives of my practice and professional development. References Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2013. DeLucia-Waack, Janice L. Handbook of Group Counseling and Psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2004. Rogers, Carl R, and Leonard Carmichael. Counseling and Psychotherapy: Newer Concepts in Practice. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2007. Rogers, Carl R, and Leonard Carmichael. Counseling and Psychotherapy: Newer Concepts in Practice. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin, 2012. Wampold, B., Minami, T., Baskin, T., & Tierney, S. A meta-(re)analysis of the effects of cognitive therapy versus ‘other therapies’ for depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 68, 159–165. (2002) Weiner, Irving B, and Robert F. Bornstein. Principles of Psychotherapy: Promoting Evidence-Based Psychodynamic Practice. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2013. Whelton, W. Emotional processes in psychotherapy: Evidence across therapeutic modalities. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 11, 58–71. (2004) Print. Yalom, Irvin D. Existential Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books, 2010. Read More