Now that I've received my second of two take-home final instructions, I'm looking forward to tackling them and, even more so, getting them done, which means the end of this term's coursework. I'm just glad this was a warp speed mini-term of 8 weeks of crap rather than a dragged out one. But, before I tackle these, I need to recover my full energy. (It gets wonky by the end of each week of evil lights, which screw up my stomach and brain.) I'll be fine by tomorrow or, at the latest, Saturday. A couple friends' offers to hang out have already been turned down, since I'll be isolating myself until the exams are done. (Although, I've had Skot, Irina, and Gary at my place since yesterday. Not sure how this happens, but it's fun now and then.)
Today in substance abuse class (wow, that sounds like we learn to abuse), the prof played a video featuring 2 lecturers preaching to prison inmates. The first was a priest touting AA, which naturally makes me feel like I'm mentally hemorrhaging. When he came around to the statement, "You don't need your brains to recover, gentlemen, you need the desire," I totally turned my attention away and started reading my fun book The Second Brain. That was so dumb and absurd. (At least I learned something during that time: that peristalysis happens even when all nerves connecting the intestines to the central nervous system are cut.) When my prof asked us what we thought of the priest, I had no reticence about giving a visible thumbs down, which he noted. The second speaker was alright, but very elementary and histrionic as well. I don't trust histrionic speakers, since they rely more on feelings than logic. I'd sooner listen to a deadpan genius than an animated fool, but not everyone's like me in that respect.
During that time, I also began pondering whether I'll be impatient about people recovering and changing their ways of thinking too slowly for my sensibilities. My process of change happened very rapidly when I corrected my chemical deficiency, but most other people's problems won't be so physically-rooted, I'd imagine (depending on whether they have certain disorders). So they may start thinking more reasonably and sanely at a much slower rate, which I hope I can tolerate enough to focus on each of their steps. I think I may be fine with it once I get into the process. Baby steps could still be satisfying. I guess it's about primarily appreciating your process rather than solely the patients' progress, although one must inform the other. I'd rather have a fast turnover of patients than keep stable sources of income from the same treatment-unresponsive ones. Maybe I should get into short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy, which insurance companies prefer for obvious reasons. There's also lots of clinical evidence that it's effective, and it would allow me to engage in left-brain mental masturbation, which I need. It's the most quantifiable and systematic of all approaches. We'll see where the pieces fall...
I'm already starting to think about getting a Psy.D at the same time as working in the clinical setting later on. I've just got to get licensed and in the field first for my own satisfacftion. There's a school I looked at while hunting a few years ago called CSPP that would transfer 45 of 48 of my master's course credits. I'll need a little break from courses, though.
Today in substance abuse class (wow, that sounds like we learn to abuse), the prof played a video featuring 2 lecturers preaching to prison inmates. The first was a priest touting AA, which naturally makes me feel like I'm mentally hemorrhaging. When he came around to the statement, "You don't need your brains to recover, gentlemen, you need the desire," I totally turned my attention away and started reading my fun book The Second Brain. That was so dumb and absurd. (At least I learned something during that time: that peristalysis happens even when all nerves connecting the intestines to the central nervous system are cut.) When my prof asked us what we thought of the priest, I had no reticence about giving a visible thumbs down, which he noted. The second speaker was alright, but very elementary and histrionic as well. I don't trust histrionic speakers, since they rely more on feelings than logic. I'd sooner listen to a deadpan genius than an animated fool, but not everyone's like me in that respect.
During that time, I also began pondering whether I'll be impatient about people recovering and changing their ways of thinking too slowly for my sensibilities. My process of change happened very rapidly when I corrected my chemical deficiency, but most other people's problems won't be so physically-rooted, I'd imagine (depending on whether they have certain disorders). So they may start thinking more reasonably and sanely at a much slower rate, which I hope I can tolerate enough to focus on each of their steps. I think I may be fine with it once I get into the process. Baby steps could still be satisfying. I guess it's about primarily appreciating your process rather than solely the patients' progress, although one must inform the other. I'd rather have a fast turnover of patients than keep stable sources of income from the same treatment-unresponsive ones. Maybe I should get into short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy, which insurance companies prefer for obvious reasons. There's also lots of clinical evidence that it's effective, and it would allow me to engage in left-brain mental masturbation, which I need. It's the most quantifiable and systematic of all approaches. We'll see where the pieces fall...
I'm already starting to think about getting a Psy.D at the same time as working in the clinical setting later on. I've just got to get licensed and in the field first for my own satisfacftion. There's a school I looked at while hunting a few years ago called CSPP that would transfer 45 of 48 of my master's course credits. I'll need a little break from courses, though.