(Psychology major representation; Photo from Pixabay)
The best class I took last semester was Clinical Psychology with Carol Terry. This was my favorite class because it was the one class that was most closely related to my major. This also includes my biggest accomplishment because at the end of the semester we had to give a 10-15 minute speech. I have the worst speech anxiety, and I avoid public speaking at all costs. I talked to my teacher about this and she made me feel very comfortable about the project, comfortable enough to even make it through a whole 12 minute speech. This was a huge accomplishment for me because I overcame one of my biggest fears that day, and public speaking doesn't seem AS bad anymore.
Another thing I want to mention is the exciting internship I had this previous summer break. I had an internship at Destiny Wellness Center in Tulsa, OK. Destiny Wellness Center is a mental health clinic that focuses on the eight dimensions of wellness. It has a therapy side of the building, along with a gym on the other side of the building. Over the summer I got to create several nutritional PowerPoints for the clients as well as sit in on some therapy sessions for people that had eating disorders or other types of disorders including depression, anxiety, etc. This was my favorite part of my summer because it gave me such a good insight into what my future career could include. More than anything, I think it made me excited about my future and what I am currently studying as well.
Thank you for sharing that story about public speaking, Madeleine! Now you can take that experience and use it to jumpstart other experiences where you might find yourself hesitating. And I am guessing you will find lots of connections between this class and your interests! The extra H.E.A.R.T. stuff you will learn about later this week is my attempt to bring some "wellness" approaches into this class since that is a really important part of anything people do: school, work, relationships, everything. Maybe you can suggest some good videos and other online resources for me to share. You might be able to use this class to learn about bibliotherapy or writing therapy! Anyway, as you move on through the class, if you have ideas about how to make this connect up with your work in psychology, let me know. I'm sure there are lots of possible intersection spaces: clinical psychology and creative storytelling have a lot in common. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Madeleine!
ReplyDeleteYour post made me interested in learning about wellness. This last year, I was actually thinking about minoring in Psychology, but I still have not decided if this is what I want to pursuit. Unfortunately, I struggle with public speaking. I am able to give a presentation, but I want to control my nervousness. I hope grad school goes smoothly for you!
Hi Madeleine,
ReplyDeleteThat’s an interesting combination of majors; certainly a timely and topical one for a lot of current public health issues. Do you find that the combination plays well off each other?
Congrats on your speech! (It’s always very satisfying to overcome one’s apprehensions about things like that.)
Best of luck with those “high aspirations” – sounds to me like you’re well on your way.
Cheers,
A.M.
Hey Madeleine! It looks like you and I share some similar interest. My goal is to become a psychiatrist to help those improve their mental health.
ReplyDeleteYour internship at the destiny Wellness Center sounds like it was a good experience. So far, I've only done a bit of shadowing, but I hope I get an internship like yours one day.
I can relate to your speech anxiety. I got better at it in my Spanish class. I had to give a 5-minute powerpoint presentation with picture-only slides. I don't think I can ever be as scared of public speaking after that.
Hey there Madeleine! As someone who has struggled with these psychological issues myself, I am so appreciative of people like you who are passionate about helping others. My mother is a psychologist and I can tell you first hand that it is one of the most rewarding jobs out there. Even though you are going to have some difficult patients, in the end it is such a rewarding feeling knowing that you potentially saved someone's life. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Madeleine! I think that it is great that you have been able to follow your academic passions, and that those passions are going to help so many people. I know that it can be hard to find internships, and I'm so glad that you found one that is so well-suited to your area of interest and study. Congratulations on your speech! Public speaking has always been a challenge for me, so here's to improving even more this semester.
ReplyDeleteHey Madeleine! I think that's really cool that you're majoring in psychology, that was what I always thought I wanted to major in when I was in high school (when I had never even taken a class about it) hahaha. I was always the go-to advice-giver for my friend group too and I always loved it! I hate public speaking as well and had a 15 minute presentation last semester that I had to get over too...luckily it was with a group though but in front of like 100 people. Well, I hope you have a great senior year!
ReplyDeleteHi Madeleine! That combination of degrees is awesome. I want to utilize nutrition and medicine someday to help prevent disease and cure disease naturally through diet. I think nutrition can be the key to so many things and it is awesome that you will use it along with psychology. Plus you had an internship with it, which can really tell you where your passions are. I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteHi Madeleine! I think that its so cool that you have found a career path that you are passionate about! Having a job that you are good at and love will make life so much fun in the future! Also, I am not a psych major but I am currently taking abnormal psychology with Carol Terry and I love her! She is so kind and a very personable and informed instructor!
ReplyDeleteHi Madeleine!
ReplyDeleteI am also a Psychology major and I am currently taking Clinical Psychology with Dr. Carol! How ironic!! I am glad that you mentioned the final project. I too tend to get very anxious when I have to speak in front of people. I feel like I can speak normally for about 2-3 minutes before I start freaking out, so when she said that the speech is anywhere form 10-15 minutes, I internally started freaking out. You experience with the project makes me feel a little bit more at peace so thank you for sharing!
Hi Madeleine! I'm also a senior Psychology major as well. I took Abnormal Psychology with Dr. Terry and I loved it! I think she's so passionate about what she does and it shows in the way she teaches. I think it's really cool that you want to be a clinical psychologist! I was also thinking about going to grad school for clinical psychology but I am still researching about what kind of program would be the right one for me. I hope you get into the best clinical psychology program!
ReplyDeleteHey Madeleine,
ReplyDeletePsychology has always been fascinating to me. However, I decided to take the Social Work path, and hope to become an LCSW further down the road so I can be a therapist for adolescents. Internships are so exciting. I'm currently interning right now at Red River Youth Academy, and it gets me so excited for the future of my career.
So... I used to live in South Dakota, and one of the gen ed requirements there is to have a public speaking class. On the day that I had to give my first speech, I literally contemplated ways on how I could get out of it. I thought about dropping the class, but it was already too late. I was freaking out because I was so nervous. I can definitely understand your pain! I surprised myself by passing the class. I actually enjoy public speaking now, which is something I had never anticipated. Kudos to you for overcoming that fear, even though you were forced to overcome it!
Hi Madeleine,
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that your major is in Psychology. Psychology is a huge interest of mine as well, specifically in the area of MBTI personality types and Jung's cognitive functions. I enjoy trying to understand why people are the way they are and the reasons behind their actions, including my own. For reference my MBTI personality type is INTP.
Hello Madeleine!
ReplyDeleteI can tell that you are a STEM major based on the way you write. It was very analytical and very detailed, like many of the engineering papers I read every day! I love the picture you included with your introduction. I'd like to say that my left brain is pretty developed, but I am slowly working on the creative side of me, getting into woodworking and photography (trying lol). It was nice getting to read a little bit about you.
Hey Madeleine! I'm glad you get to pursue something you love so much and are so passionate about. From your writing, I think we can all tell how much you enjoy your major, and how much you'll enjoy your future job. It's so cool that you got the chance to have that internship over the summer! I bet getting to sit in on all those therapy sessions, and getting to meet real patients with each disorder, was really enlightening and a great experience overall. I've had lots of shadowing experience with doctors, so I know that there's nothing like getting to see those relationships and consultations first hand. Good luck with the class, and I'm excited to read more of your posts in the future!
ReplyDeleteHey Madeleine! Wow, it's super clear that you're really passionate about what you do. You clearly are gonna thrive in your work! That internship also sounds like a great opportunity. I'm from Tulsa, and hopefully you got to explore the city a little bit while you were there! Best of luck this year and with this class, I can't wait to read your stuff!
ReplyDeleteHey Madeleine,
ReplyDeleteClinical Psychology sounds very fascinating and like a very interesting topic to major in. I do think that we need more of those in the world because it seems like more and more people are coming out and being open about the mental illnesses they deal with behind closed doors. TO add another psychologist to the world will be great! I found it fascinating when you mentioned the eight dimensions of wellness that I had to go look it up. I thought that was fascinating and intriguing to say the least. I hope you have a great semester!
Hi Madeleine,
ReplyDeleteI love how passionate you are about your majors! I think it is amazing you know what you want and you are proactive about learning more about your future career path. I think its so cool you got to intern in the field you are studying and got s glimpse of what you future entails. I wish you nothing but the best and I hope you have a wonderful semester!
Hey Madeleine,
ReplyDeleteI understand some of what you’re going through right now. I’m a senior pre-med major, so currently I’m trying to get into medical school! Seeing our future careers up close and personal is amazing (and a tad bit scary), but that’s why we’re here at OU! I love the fact that you’re already in the role of therapist for all of your friend groups – shows that you absolutely want to go into psychology.
Sincerely,
Andrew
Hey Madeleine! It is my last year here so I completely understand! I am trying to decide exactly what steps I am going to take with my future and its scary! But you seem like you have made all the right steps and are really prepare! Good Luck! You got this!
ReplyDelete