Psychology

In the late 19th  century to early 20th century  America, people with mental instabilities were frowned upon by the society and were thought to be alienated from the rest of the society. And so were the physicians who treated these patients, who were dubbed alienists. More than a hundred years later, Psychology and study of Human mental health have evolved and developed, and it is no longer a lesser field of study. Thus my practicum experience at Families First as an intern was not only an eye opener, but will last forever.

Having been as a group leader, the task of conducting and facilitating individual and group counseling, family counseling, marriage counseling, intake assessments, and diagnosing in a community setting was a challenge to behold. Families First is a non-profit making organization based in New Hampshire that devotes its resources in tackling various problems affecting contemporary American families. Various programs are at hand to check every kind of a problem. My vital contribution was in designing a program called Project Turning Point for individuals who have been charged with theft. Participants are given the opportunity to complete the psycho-educational program aimed at providing them with knowledge and skills to understand their behavior and make alternative decisions to avoid future charges or penalties, this was rehabilitation program for juvenile delinquencies in the society. For six weeks, the program provided participants with an incisive and insight perspective to their former lifestyles through group discussions and weekly assignments.
   
Therapy sessions are the most important phases in a rehab centre. Observing the therapists using the Families First assessment instrument during the intake process to gather the necessary information needed to accurately assess the client needs, document their goals, diagnose, and accurately treat the client was  an invaluable experience to me. Observation of the patient, question and answer sessions provide the bulk of the initial pre-therapy sessions.

After the initial process, patients are put on a therapy session that lasts up to a month, and then results are assessed for progress. While the primary purpose of initial intake process is to gather diagnostic evaluations and assessment of patients needs, therapy sessions form treatment and rehabilitation phases of the process.
   
Internship is never complete at Families First without the study of documentation and archiving of records. Inputting of individual and group data is an integral part. This includes scheduling counseling sessions and making official records of assessments, making official correspondence with third party associates like state and federal agencies interested in the affairs of Families First. The procedures for reporting and documenting suicidal and homicidal reports plus the technical know-how of dealing with the two issues was a congruent part of my documentation experience.
     
Finally, the most important field in the profession of Psychology and mental health came during our study of the American Counseling Associations codes of ethics. With the opportunity to conduct counseling sessions I became aware of personal feeling and was able discuss any ethical boundaries with my supervisor. I was also able to discuss confidentiality when it concerned safety of a client and liability for the agency. Becoming familiar the code ethics was helpful because it protects me, the client, and agency. Among the ethics are the counseling relationship, Confidentiality, Privileged Communication, and Privacy, Professional Responsibility, Relationships with Other Professionals, Evaluation, Assessment, and
interpretation (ACA, 2005).
       
In conclusion, interning at Families First was a rewarding and a wonderful learning experience. I gained a lot of insight into working with the community and counseling in a community setting and this is what nobody can get in a classroom setting.