Just back from 2 hours touring Juvenile Hall and another 2 hours planning my practicum... that should be something like 750 hours of UNPAID, HAZARDOUS work. They decided to put me on all the most difficult cases, particularly those that looked like there might be some psychopathy going on.
But that's ok, this is what I want to work on... how our mental health/legal system can do better with youth that are potentially throw-away-the-key candidates. My first case will be one where the kid floated in a chemical broth (not hte kind Nature provides) for 9 months and was then violently abused for the next 18 years.
He appears to be falling between the minor and adult systems.Then I am to research all the really unique cases where my supervisor wants access to the newest info and research on this or that. Very cool... seems that university library logon doubles as a golden key!
I'll start by doing screening (for meds), assessment (diagnosis) and brief treatment at several locations. Then after school is out I'll hopefully start doing more testing, but I have to wangle a test kit from the school and try to drum up more guinea pigs in order to be proficient enough to satisfy my supervisor that I'm safe to put with the real thing (as in kids with serious problems).
There is also a chance I'll get some paid work if I am willing to be in rotation with a couple of other therapists. YES!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ And it appears that my supervisor can delegate to an LMFT or LCSW for some work, so I can get MFT intern hours and still get doctoral practicum credits. Whoopee!!!
Oh Lord... I have the most labor intensive part of the term yet to come and I opted to start this NOW??? Well, opportunity knocked, so what's a girl to do?
Oh hey... where the hell did my comment link go down below? Added a pic (which I rethought and removed for anonymity's sake) and did something screwy. Shall have to look at the code later. Gotta say that this page format is hard to sift through. Having done my own web design for many years I'm not very patient with it...
9 comments:
Congratulations on graduating! I caught the picture while it was up and you looked great in the cap and gown. Working at Juvenile Hall sounds very intense.. but it's a great thing to help kids who really need it.
Sounds like you'll have your hands full, with both the Juvie practicum and schoolwork.
You might want to check about getting credit for both your MFT intern hours and doctoral practicum at the same time. It could be that it's ok, but you might want to make sure so that you don't lose out. Check with both the State and your school, just to be safe.
Congratulations! Sounds like you are off and running, a lot.
Since you are a student of psychopathy, you might want to take a look at an article that discusses a book written by Andrew M. Lobczewski called Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Politcal Purposes. You can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/z3s2l
This was written by a man who lived in Poland during World War II and he and a few other psychologists studied psychopathy up close and personal. This is a very dense book. But I got through it and understood it so anybody should be able to. Because of what is happening in the world today, this book is very important.
Thanks Di Di (love the name, BTW), for the nice compliment. I go back and forth about being anonymous. , but somtimes I like to vent about classmates and profs here, so I guess it's best.
Donna I intend to call the BBS to see what they say, just in case they decide to rain on my parade, but my school faculty is telling me I can double up. I sure hope so, b/c if not then I am pretty well screwed on the MFT license. By the time I'm done with my doctoral work I'll just have one year to get the bulk of those 3000 hours! =(
Thanks Suzanne! Will definitely go look up the article you're recommending as well as the book. I am slowly amassing a library on the topic. I'm also cranking myself up to write to Dr. Hare to get some info on how and when the PCL-YV is being used. One of my supervisors in my masters program worked at a federal prison and told me they don't use the PCL-R at all there! Wow... that really surprised me.
Mamabeek wrote:
"One of my supervisors in my masters program worked at a federal prison and told me they don't use the PCL-R at all there!"
Yes, that is definitely a surprise. Makes one wonder what they are using, if anything at all. Very interesting. Thanks for commenting back and I really do hope you read the above mentioned article.
Congratulations on your graduation!!! I hope you can double up on the hours just because it makes sense.
Hi, Mamabeek! I have stumbled upon your blog accidentally, and see you have graduated. My warmest congratulations to you! I am a Russian immigrant, my name is Anna, and I have been in US for the last 10 years. I am working on my MA in Psychology in one of the approved California schools and hoping to eventually get an MFT license. I stumbled upon your site because I was looking for any information possible on MFT practicum. I am to start mine in less than a year and I am already freaking out as I have no prior experience (I am changing careers), and my school pretty much lets us do all the work as far as placement goes. So I would really like to pick someone’s brain on practicum placement negotiation, as far as how do interviews usually go, what questions are commonly asked and stuff like that. It is my main fear, the interviews. You seem pretty experienced in that by now. I know you are busy, and how hard it is to find a time, so even a very brief info would be of a great help to me. I do not see any way to contact you besides leaving a comment here. I have looked but do not see your e-mail address anywhere. Would you mind contacting me? My email is jmuchki@yahoo.com. I really, really appreciate it a bunch.
Anna A.
(Also a Sagittarius and a Horse, I actually found it to be an interesting coincidence).
Hey, Anna... I'm glad you stopped by! I'll just answer your questions here since others might be interested, and more importantly, others might chime in with their own comments and experiences so we can all learn!
I had two masters practicum sites and was actually offered three, but decided I would be overloaded if I took them all. I wanted the broadest experiece I could get, so I chose one that would give me traditional, 50 minutes in an office, with individuals, couples and families sort of work. Then I chose one that was in a residential treatment facility (group home) for teenage girls where the therapy was much less structured and I did more group and crisis work. The third was Hospice, but besides the lack of time to do them all, I had second and third thoughts about immersing myself in grief and loss right then when I was going through some heavy stuff of my own.
I had a list of sites, and beyond having contacted them to be sure they met the required standards, the school left it up to us to get ourselves placed. I too changed careers, having been an agricultural biologist for 15 years before this, and had no clinical experience to speak of. I did, however, volunteer to be a "Hotliner" for a crisis hotline in my area in order to get some experience to get into a masters program in the first place. Again, I wanted the broadest possible exposure to different mental health issues and this particular activity has stood me in very good stead ever since. It was the only real 'experience' I could claim.
Most places wanted to know
1) My therhetical orientation, and they asked lots of questions to establish that I really did know how to apply that model. This one came up again for my application into the doctoral program and for my current doctoral practicum site. I just heard a speaker who had been matched by APPIC for a predoctoral internship site and she said they wanted an answer to this question as well, and "Eclecitc" was NOT acceptable. I gave a primary model (CBT because it was what my school focused on) but pointed out that within that model I worked from a systems perspective and made it clear that I was interested in learning a couple of other models as well. (Wanted them to know that I was both flexible and willing to learn)
2) Know your law and ethics. They all asked questions to assess my aptitudes in this area and wanted, in particular, to know if I understood what was and was not reportable. They also wanted to know what my limits were, as in what sorts of clients could I NOT work with, why, and how would I handle that.
3) Be prepared to illustrate that you grasp the concept of cultural diversity and how it might inform your treatment. You might want to think of a few brief examples you can trot out of how cultural awareness might change a diagnosis or treatment plan. If you can talk about personal experiences with diversity (and being an immigrant you should be golden here) that is even better. Since you are not native to the US, and particularly if English is not your first language, be prepared to talk about what difficulties you expect to encounter as a result and how you will handle them. I can see you will have some wonderful strengths in this area as well, so be sure to play them up!
3) All the places I interviewed wanted to know what population I preferred and why.
4) Another common question was what my long range plans were and how I intended to reach those goals.
5) Everyone wants to hear about the experience you have, but if these are masters practicum sites then the majority will likely be sensitive to the fact that you are a student and may have no experience. Psychology graduate students are often from other fields, so our situation is not uncommon. Many people who go into this field are 'rescuers' by nature so often have personal experiences from their former professions, hobbies or personal lives that might be talked up here, with the caveat that the candidate knows this wasn't 'therapy' by any means. For example, I had worked for several nonprofits in which I acted as a facilitator/mediator. I also fell into that role in my professional life; bridging the gap between academic and applied agriculturalists, so I played that up in situations where I felt I needed to pad out my experience.
Most sites ask for 2 or 3 references, so if you haven't already, get the best ones you can. Try to include at least one who will have complimentary things to say about your potential clinical skills... so basically from a clinical training class if you had any of those, rather than academics or research.
Hmm... I've gone on plenty long here and I'm losing focus. Maybe others will chime in with ideas or references for you.
I wish you the best!
Thank you so much for addressing it so thoroughly! It helped a great deal, and I will start preparing myself for the interviews roughly according to the areas that you have specified.
Again, I really appreciate your help!
Anna A.
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