Capstone: Reflection

         Whenever I shadowed my mentor doing an evaluation on a patient or watched a VA video, he always asked me questions like "Why do you think they feel that way", "Why might someone who experiences chronic pain feel depressed"? While I was writing my research paper my research paper, I had to pull information from various sources and put them all together in order to create my argument. These were times when I had to use a lot of critical thinking skills during my project. Communication was key for my mentor and I because we always had to figure out when we were able to meet and for how long. We had to tell each other when we were able to meet and when were unable to meet because we both had busy schedules. In addition to that, there were only so many patients to observe and VA videos to watch. Sometimes I would spend a whole hour just asking my mentor questions or learning about theories. As for collaboration, my mentor actually helped me with my research paper. In the process of writing the final draft he was able to give me advice and feedback on what I wrote. He also told me about some sources that would be helpful to my paper.
           I can honestly say that I gained so much from this Capstone experience. I was able to learn things about myself, people around me and my surroundings, and the psychology field. For myself, I learned that I really do want to be a psychologist in the future. I know that it will take a lot of money and time, but I am determined to put in all the work. I did realize that I do not want to work with the same type of patients my mentor has worked with. I do know that I want to work with either those with mental disabilities, the insane, or criminals. I took a lot out of this experience when it comes to what I gained socially. Two main ideas stuck out to me. First of all, people would do less things that they would regret if they were more aware. If they were more aware, it would be easier to catch themselves if they are about to do something stupid. The second and most important less on I took out of this was you really can't judge a book by its cover. It may sound cliche, but it's really true. Everyone has their own story and they have their own reasons for being the way they are. We don't like it when people judge us, but we are so quick to pass judgements. As for the psychology field, I learned a lot about Acceptance Commitment Therapy, different types of psychological theories, and the how much school and hard work I'll need to get where I want to be in my career.
            I faced two challenges. My mentor and I had conflicting schedules. When we were able to meet, it would only be once a week for an hour or two because he had patients that were too confidential for me to see. To get around this, we tried our best to manage our time wisely and I tried my best to not procrastinate.

Capstone: Day 25

       For my last hour, my mentor gave me an article to read that talked about Acceptance Commitment Therapy. The article, titled "Embracing your Demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy", was by Russell Harris. The article was seven pages long, so it took awhile to read. After reading the article, I am suppose to type up a summary and then send it to him. The article talked about the goal of ACT. Russell Harris defines the therapy as "Consciously bringing awareness to your here-and-now experience with openness, interest and receptiveness". The article then addressed minfulness and how ACT differs from other minfulness-based approaches. It then addressed some other aspects of ACT. Honestly, the article was interesting, but it was very hard to read because there was just too much to read. I know that if I pursue psychology that I will have to get used to a lot of heavy reading. I believe that this article was a very good way for me to see just how much reading I will have to do next year. But in the back of my head, I feel like compared to how much I'll be reading next year, a seven page article will be nothing.

Capstone: Day 24

           In the 24th hour, we watched another VA video. This time, the video was on Session 4, "Values and Actions". Session four focused a lot on goals versus values. Goals are temporary, meaning that they can be reached. On the other hand, values can never be reached. The ACT workbook used the metaphor as moving west. Let's say your goal is to move west and you live in California. You move west to Hawaii and you reached your goal. However, you can still move west and keep moving towards it, making it a value. The session also raised the patient's awareness. In a previous blog entry, I talked about the "Bag of Props". In the video, I saw those props at work. The psychologist told her patient to do the raisin exercise and the exercise with the Chinese handcuffs. In my opinion, it is easier for someone to understand a concept when they are actually engaged with it. Then again, that's just me. It may be different for other people and other patients undergoing ACT. I felt very engaged watching this session. It actually made me reflect on what was really important in my life. Psychology doesn't just apply to certain people. It applies to everybody, directly and indirectly.

Capstone: Day 23

        This hour continued off of the previous hour. My mentor went on talking about dictations, then he started talking about the pros and cons of different offices. By offices, he meant the ones in private practice versus the other ones. He talked about how in a private office, things like getting a report transcribed is all on you. You have to upload it and send it and fax it. In an office like Stanford, all you would have to do is dictate it and the rest will be done for you. That was the main point of this hour, so it pretty much connected to the previous one. When in private practice, you have less people helping you, but you have more freedom to do what you see fit. In other practices, you have more people helping you, but there are certain rules you have to follow. As for me, I don't really know what kind if practice I would want to go into in the future. Each has their good and bad sides, but I guess it all depends on how I like to work. In my opinion, I think it would be better to first work at a non-private office so that you get to learn the ropes and everything. One you have that down, it will be easier to work in private practice because you have more experience. Either way, becoming a psychologist requires a great deal of hardwork, dedication, school, and money. It is expensive, but it will pay off in the long run.

Capstone: Day 22

     A lot was done during this hour. I was able to listen to two dictations. So when my mentor meets with his patients, he writes down notes. After he finishes those notes he dictates it into a recording. He basically sums up everything that happened in the session. He talked about their conditions, progress, medication, etc. Once he finishes the dictation, he uploads it into his computer and sends it to a transcriptionist to type out a full report. By doing this, he is saving about 2-3 hours of him typing it himself. Once the dictation is uploaded and sent, he deletes it and then he shreds his notes. This is because of the whole confidentiality thing. Once he gets the typed report faxed to him, he faxes it out to people like lawyers, insurance companies, and psychiatrists. This is another thing done behind the scenes that people don't really see. To be completely honest, if I do become a psychologist, these are one of the things I will not be looking forward to, but either way, I'll still have to do it. I guess each and every occupation has its ups and downs. Psychologists have to do more than the typical "sit down and listen to people's problems" thing.

Capstone: Day 21

        We watched another ACT video. This one was the third session, I think. I am currently drawing a blank on the theme of the session, but I'm pretty sure it was introducing values to the patient. The psychologist was trying to get the patient to see that there are more important things in life than the pain they are feeling. If all they're worrying about is the pain, they won't be able to experience their life full out. They need to accept the fact that their pain will not go away. All they can do is change their mindset so the pain does not dictate their lives. This can be applied to anybody. If somebody is always focusing on the bad, they'll never see the good. They'll waste their time thinking about how bad things are, that they won't see the good things happening right in front of them. This was something I was able to take away from this hour.

Capstone: Day 20

       Hours 20-25 were all done on Friday, May 3, which is why I was absent from school that day. We started off hour 20 by reviewing the Hexaflex Diagram. I now have a better understanding of it. It was more clear because my mentor used a metaphor to describe. Through this, I realized that it's easier for me to learn something when I am able to relate to it. It turns out that all the different types of therapy have their own theories. It is what distinguishes then from each other and keeps the psychologist and patient consistent with the therapy. The theories that correspond with the therapies make them more effective in the long run. The first hour was more of a catch up hour so it was all mostly review, nothing really new. Either way, it still all seemed very interesting.

Capstone: Day 19

      So on the last hour, we killed two birds w/ one stone. As I said in previous posts, my mentor is doing extra work that involves watching videos of psychologists in San Diego working with post veteran patients. All the patients are undergoing ACT and my mentor has to watch the sessions and evaluate how well the psychologists are adhering to the treatment. As for me, I was able to truly see the Hexaflex diagram at work. When undergoing ACT, the patients focus on certain aspects of the diagram in each session. With each aspect comes a certain title or goal for the session. The hour long session I watched was titled "Options for 'Learning to Live with It'". One point of the Hexaflex diagram was values, and that was what this session focused on. The patient had chronic pain from fighting in the war and was beginning to get depressed. The psychologist was trying to get him to stop focusing on the pain and to start thinking about what was really important (this also links back to mindfulness). There was one point that I found interesting during the session. The psychologist asked , "If you weren't in pain, what would you be doing?" The patient said things like he would be volunteering, spending more time with his family, and going back to school. Just by asking this question, the psychologist was able to figure out his values based on his answers without straight up asking "What are your values?" After that she said, "Well what's stopping you from going to school now?" The patient says, "I'm not that smart." It's not the pain that's stopping him from doing some of the things he wants to do, yet he is quick to blame it on the pain because he is so busy thinking about it. Honestly, there were some moments where I was bored watching the videos, but I got a lot out of it. I find the videos very interesting, but hopefully the next time we watch them, I won't be so drowsy.

Capstone: Day 18

      This is the second hour out of three. In the second hour, my mentor introduce the Hexaflex diagram to me. Psychologists call this diagram the "theory of ACT". The diagram is what sets apart ACT from other types of therapy like CBT. It shows the purpose of ACT and how it is suppose to be carried out. It made a whole lot of sense in its entirety and I was easily able to understand it. However, when it came to chunking it out into two pieces, that's when it started to get a little confusing. It was interesting, but a little bit hard to follow, so I am going to ask my mentor to clarify a little when we meet again. The Hexaflex diagram will surely be something I put into my presentation. He also used examples that related to the diagram to make it seem more relatable.

Capstone: Day 17

       So my mentor and I have not met for the past two weeks because of our conflicting schedules. Last Saturday, we took the time to meet for approximately three hours. Please take note that days 17-19 are all blog posts based on the same day. This post will talk about the first hour out of three. In the beginning we went over our schedules. We tried to figure out how I will be able to finish all my hours by the due date. After that, we picked off from where we left off from the previous session. He had given me an assignment that would raise awareness. For the assignment, I had to slowly eat either the first or the last bite of a meal. The purpose for this was to demonstrate how perspective can be changed by heightening your awareness. He also helped me connect this to my paper. If someone who is abusive improves their awareness, they will better be able to catch themselves when they feel as if they are going to do something abusive. We also talked about how awareness can alter negative thinking into positive thinking. This proves to be very helpful for those going through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This was all very interesting. Not only did I gain a new perspective on awareness, I was able to connect it to my life. I have seen that the more I am aware of something, the higher chance I have of not being so closed minded about the situation. For me this made a lot of sense. It also connects with other people, too. It may sound cheesy, but we always have to be aware of other people's feelings. We don't know what they've gone through and their stories, and we need to be considerate of that.