Individual Assignment 02

I chose to interview a psychology student named Chelsea. Chelsea is currently studying counseling psychology in the Chatham University doctoral PsyD program. Prior to attending this program, Chelsea got her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh with a certificate in American Sign Language. She then continued her education at the University of Pittsburgh by getting her master’s degree in early intervention with a specialization in autism and developmental delays. She also got her second master’s in psychology at Chatham University prior to joining their PsyD program. Aside from schooling, Chelsea has many interests and hobbies. Chelsea enjoys cooking, playing with her dogs, spending time with her husband, parents, and brothers, and being crafty! In her spare time, she also enjoys knitting, crocheting, and sewing. Chelsea did not participate in many clubs throughout college. She unfortunately experienced some rough times and was not academically eligible for clubs.

As mentioned above, Chelsea did not always have an easy time in college. She began college without knowing that she had Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Based on those past experiences, Chelsea found her perfect studying strategies. She finds it very helpful to use a planner and to keep in top of assignments. She also recommends the Pomodoro technique. This break-taking technique helps to break down tasks by working for a set amount of time, then taking a short break to prevent feeling overwhelmed. Chelsea also explained working within your learning style. Each person learns differently. Chelsea learns best visually and tactically. Ergo, flash cards, color coding, concept maps, and flowcharts work well for her. Within the field of psychology, Chelsea recommends observing a variety of counseling skill styles to learn as many tools as possible. When beginning any practicum or clinical work, having a variety of skills and styles will be very important.

Chelsea explained that, within psychology especially, it can be hard to find resume builders because they depend on what program you are working towards. If you plan on pursuing a PhD research program, research positions would look best on a resumes. It would also be beneficial to work with a research team and to potentially get published. These things would really set you apart from other applicants. But, if you are interested in a practitioner-scholar model, which focuses on clients over research, clinical experience would be more practical than research experience. Chelsea knew that she wanted to work clinically, so she started her career as an in-home therapist for several years prior to returning to school for her PsyD. She explained that working in such a setting helped her learn important skills, such as how to interact with clients, how to plan treatment goals, and how to work within a treatment team. Aside from experience, Chelsea mentioned that involvement is also very important. Showing that you can balance school and life is an appealing skill to rigorous programs. Within school clubs and groups, holding leadership positions also looks good for building a resume. Overall, Chelsea’s most important message to me was that you have to find your place. Whether my interest involves research, clinical practice, working with children or a college population or even the medically needy, I need to find a population that I enjoy working with that will continue to challenge me to try new things.

The Chatham Business Insight article, about Holly Schott, strayed from the career path I have chosen, but also relates to psychology. Holly began her post-secondary education at Slippery Rock University (SRU) with a major in Psychology and a focus in neuroscience. But, she then furthered her education by attending Chatham University’s MBA program with a focus in Entrepreneurial Leadership & Strategy. Throughout her bachelor’s degree, Holly was very involved at SRU. She was involved in Brain Awareness Week for numerous years and was also part of a research project with Dr. Christopher Niebauer. Through her research project, Holly had the opportunity to present her findings at the Eastern Psychological Association alongside her research partner (The Business, 2016). Holly’s involvement relates to Chelsea’s advice about being involved in college and finding internships that focus on your interests and future goals. But, separately from Chelsea, Holly took her psychology degree in an unexpected direction. Whereas Chelsea kept within the field of psychology, as I plan to do, Holly used her degree in an unconventional, but very effective way.

Holly’s story emphasizes the connection between psychology and other fields of work, like business. The connection between these two fields may seem abnormal, but psychology is a major part of marketing and communication. As explained by Mr. Kip Soteres during a class presentation, communication is all about better understanding your audience and helping engage them. You have to be capable of reading body language, considering your audience, and connecting with them to properly communicate. Marketing also has a major psychological influence. This is true mostly for understanding the “Four P’s” of marketing: price, product, promotion, and place. Understanding your consumers and buyers and being able to effectively encourage them to by your products is very psychological. This is especially true when promoting a product. You have to use the right promotion tactics to reach your desired population and you want to think about what makes a product more desirable. Marketing considers psychological factors, such as what form of communication is the targeted consumer using. You may also consider how to make a product more appealing to a consumer by attaching is to some other desirable object or idea. Overall, marketing and communications are not simply business fields, but also involve some extent of psychology to be effective. Chelsea and Holly’s perspectives and insight support this idea.

References

The Business & Entrepreneurship Department. (2016, October 8). Student Spotlight:
          Holly Schott, MBA '17 [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.chatham.edu/
          businessblogs/2016/10/08/studentspotlight-holly-schott-mba-17/