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.