** EDIT: University of Vermont has been taken off my list, as the professor just got back to me and said she will not be accepting students in the fall of 2013, so there is no longer anyone in the program I particularly care to work with**
Edit #2: UCONN has also been taken off of list, as the mentor I wanted to work with will no longer be there.
Hello everyone!
I am on my lunch break, so I decided to update my blog :-)
So far work has been really great! I have done several mock interviews (to prepare the youth for their real interviews tomorrow) and some intake interviews as well. Some of the youth are going to be really fun to work with! Others may be a challenge...hehe. My co-workers and supervisors are all really awesome! We became fast friends (practically the first day I worked). We all went out to a local restaurant and we tease each other and have fun. One running joke is that my supervisor's name is Latisha, pronounced exactly like my name but with an 'L' in front so several of the people that have called the office have gotten us confused, thinking that I am the head of the program or asking for "Latisha Brooks"! We tease each other that we are sisters.
I actually find out which kids I will work with throughout the summer tomorrow (when they get their jobs). I start visiting them and meeting with them and their employers starting July 9th. It should be an interesting experience!
I have officially gotten a placement for practicum, as the head of the program (above my supervisor) is good friends with the head of a community organization that has counseling. All I know is that I have a placement working with children/adolescents and there is a supervisor lined up for me. I have also been officially asked to work here during the school year (and they will be flexible with my practicum hours and class). This means that I will get full tuition remission!
Speaking of school, I have 9 different PhD programs that I am planning on applying to (by the end of November this year). I have emailed most of the mentors at these programs that I will specify I want to work with. Some have said my research interests are in line with what they do and that they are accepting students! The programs are as follows (in order of preference):
1) The University of Denver, Colorado. UD has a really amazing child clinical psych. program and in addition, the mentor I want to work with has her own traumatic stress studies lab. Even more awesome? The people that work in this lab bring their pets to work! I saw pics online of their cats laying on their desks and some of their dogs cuddling with various staff :-). DU has two mentors I wouldn't mind working with and they accept transfer credit.
2) Kansas University, Kansas. Though I don't really want to live in Kansas, this program is the absolute top program in child clinial psych. The program is HUGE and it was one of the very first schools to have a child specialization within clinical psych. I have not heard back from the mentor I would like to work with yet, so if she is not accepting students, then I will not apply to KU.
3) University of Rochester, NY. Rochester, NY has been ranked as one of the top most "livable" cities. It appears to be relatively inexpensive. The program accepts transfer credits (and allows for the transfer of practicum).
4) Northern Illinois University. This seems like the school that is easiest to get into (the acceptance rate is 6% whereas all the other ones are around 2-3%). There are 2 mentors that have already gotten back to me that my research interest somewhat aligns with theirs (one mentor doesn't work specifically with children, however)
5)Temple University, Phillidelphia. This is only # 7 because schools 3-7 are pretty interchangable as far as my preference goes. The menotor I'd like to work with here has gotten back to me and his research aligns with my research interests.
6) Loyola University, Chicago. This prgoram looks really fulfliling and the course work looks really in depth and awesome. There are two mentors I would like to work with, but I haven't gotten in touch with them yet.
7)Suffolk University, Boston. I would LOVE to stay in Boston. I tried to look at other Boston schools but unbelievably, NONE of them fit my criteria (accept transfer credit, have a child clinical psych. program, and has a mentor whose research I am interested in). Suffolk has one mentor I wouldn't mind working with. If I stay at Suffolk, then I get full tuition remission plus salary because of the job I have (and would continue to have). The downside to Suffolk is that the mentor's research I am not particularly excited about to the degree I am about the others. Also, they do not accept much transfer credit (hardly any), and most dissapointingly, they do not accept practicum transfer-- even though I will have my practicum through Suffolk (but through the mental health program instead of the clinical psych.. Apparently the clinical psych. students get to have practicum at places the program has already contracted with, whereas the mental health counseling students have to go out and find their own places).
As far as what I want to research, I have a couple of different things:
-How developing new attachment styles with peers and trusted adults can help children/adolescents cope with and heal from trauma
-How trauma effects children's existential conceptualization such as the meaning of life, God, heaven, etc.
- The role of imagination in coping with childhood trauma
-How forgiveness of sexual abuse offenders aids in the healing of trauma (how and why does it happen) and why some people choose to forgive while others do not.
-Theatre and fiction as narrative therapy- how it helps define the self and helps abuse survivors tell their stories.
A lot of these interests intersect with eachother and the two that I will be able to focus on (because there are mentors that will be working on similar topics) are the first two. There is one mentor (Northern Illinois University) who is working on forgiveness topics, so that one will be a focus if I get in to NIU.
And now it is time to get back to work!
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