February 28, 2011

I had a great weekend! I read and finished some "homework" they assigned me at the internship.
Today I worked on finding an apartment close to the psychology building in UF. Some of them looked great and the prices were reasonable, but I kept facing the same problem. NO ROOMATE! I still sent some applications to see if the can hook me up with someone and I'll see how it goes. I was thinking of watching some movies that Ms. Patterson told me were related to psychology as part of my project! I thought it was a great idea and I can enjoy watching them with friends or something. Everything else is going smooth and I'll be starting to do my project preview presentation soon :)

February 23, 2011

Today was more like a catch-up day. I finished the week's homework, make up work, student notes, and I turned everything before the due date!
For the rest, everything is running smoothly. I did my student notes with my wonderful mentor, Mr. Hurst, and she told me that this afternoon she will submit the mentor meeting report.
I keep reading my book and finding out new things all the time.

February 22, 2011

Wonderful day today!
I went to my internship in which I was asked to make copies of a book one of the psychologists uses for her patient. She told me that she assigned them to read books because since 55 minute sessions aren't long enough, they can have something to do in between sessions. Today I also learned that the youngest patient they've ever had is 7 years old and they do not have many of them because they need play therapy instead of psychotherapy and they do not know too much about it. I finished the Spanish paperwork Monica asked me to translate and she was extremely thankful and asked me if I needed anything as prove that I've been attending to my internship. I said that this experience is mainly for myself because I am leaning a lot from the job and if she could write me a letter of recommendation for the future would be great, but for the rest I am on my own and no body checks if I am attending or not.
I continue reading my book and searching online for fun facts and other stuff as well as catching up with make-up work, the newsletter activity, homework, etc.
This weekend I went to Gainesville to check out the psychology building as part of my research too. I LOVED IT! I thought it was the most beautiful campus and by far it is my first option.

February 16, 2011

So today I went to Cypress Bay to talk to my wonderful mentor, Ms. Hurst. She gave me a little of background information about the book I am reading, she referred to me another great psychologist that lives in the area so I will interview him as another source of my research. We also had a great talk about how I am going to UF and her daughter studied psychology there. She told me that her experience up there wasn't that great but it still depends on our personal experiences. I'll still go up there this weekend and maybe I can gain more information about the field.
I continued reading "We Are What We Think" and I keep writing personal notes not only for my WISE project but also as long term reminders.

February 15, 2011

I had a great day today. I went to my internship and I got to talk to Monica meanwhile her patient showed up. She showed me all the paperwork her first time patients have to fill out and the personal notes she takes to remember each case. She touched bases with me about extreme cases she has had in the past and what the usuals are. I got to see all the paperwork involved to take care of a patient and that was really exciting. I got to keep a copy of each one of them as future reference.
When her patient showed up, I was allowed to stay in the front desk and be aware of people that come in, make copies, answer the phone, and other simple tasks, but I guess I must start somewhere.
I also continued reading my book and I am now getting ready for my mentor meeting tomorrow during fourth period with Ms. Hurst.

February 14, 2011

For my WISE project, I have continued to read a book called "You Are What You Think" and although I am not a big fan of reading, I found this book extremely interesting and I believe is one of the few books that I look forward reading. It is related to psychology because it talks about the power of the mind and how we can create change in our lives by gaining control of out thoughts. These constant thoughts also affect our behavior and how we react to external stimuli. It is enriching me of great information that not only I could use for WISE, but also teachings that can be helpful later in life.

In other news... I got in to UF! I was extremely surprised since my SAT's were not high enough. I will be going there this weekend because I have never been to Gainesville and I want to see if I like it there enough to move and study in the area.

February 9, 2011

So I finally fixed the interview and polished it a little as my first piece of work for my project. I had the idea of conducting another interview with one of her patients to see how her experience went and how well she helped her. Today I checked out some videos online about psychology and I also found two books I would like to use for my research.
I translated the interview because I thought it would be better if she talked to me in Spanish because it is my first language.

1. What is the typical day of a psychologist?

Patients con in every day to this very office and try to open up to me and I try to guide them with any kinds of problems, addictions, or depression.

2. How many patients a day?

About seven each day. Some days I see more and some days less.

3. Do you use medical treatment?

No, since I am a social worker, I usually get to treat them mentally, I tell them to go to other specialists if the problem gets out of control and medication is needed. I am just a social worker.

4. How much vacation time do you get?

I work on my own schedule and I choose the vacation time I want. But the less I work, the less money I make so it is in my own interest to stay working.

5. How much do you get paid?

It is different every month, the single sessions are $90 and couples or families are $100 for 55 minutes.

6. Is it rewarding to see how a patient develops over a period of time?

Yes, I get to see the process of each of them. They get better by just being able to do a simple task as communication.

7. For how long do patients attend to your sessions?

I see some patients for as long as years. For the first couple of months they come as often as needed. When things start to fall into place for them, I make them come every six months or so just for check ups.

8. What types of approaches are used?

Depends, for the single sessions I use cognitive approaches which is more like expressing feelings and stating their experiences, and when more than one person comes, I use dynamic approaches to see how each react with each other. 

February 8, 2011

Today was amazing! I finally see my project progressing. My interview went great, I gained more insight in the field of psychology and Dr. Arroyo truly opened my eyes because she said that the process of getting to where she is is hard and painful. But if I was really interested in the field, she said that it would be extremely rewarding in the end. After I type her answers, I'll be posting the entire interview to see just to show some of the basic information in the field. I'll be back in her office soon and I will be able to work as an assistant and do simple tasks such as making copies and answering the phone just to see how everything works:)

February 7, 2011

Tomorrow is the big day… I will get to finally talk to the psychologist I’ll be going to the internship with. I am preparing an interview for her so I know some basic information. Since people’s problems are extremely personal, I won’t be able to see how she approaches different situations when she has sessions with patients. I will be able to ask questions, answer the phone, and be pretty much a personal assistant hopefully. Today I added some sources to my noodletools, and I am sure that a lot of information I found in those sources will be part of my final presentation. 

February 5, 2011

Horray! I have finally made some progress. I drove over another local psychologist that a friend of mine knew. She was great and allowed me to be an intern at her office! I start on tuesday at 1:30 PM and I now know that my project will be about psychology. I will continue my research online and get new information for my final project.

February 2, 2011

It seems that this isn’t the right choice for me because is not working out. I tried calling, leaving messages, and when I drove there, I couldn’t find the place. My friend told me about another great psychologist that lives around the area and I will contact her the first thing tomorrow. Meanwhile, I continue my research on sketching because if the psychology option doesn’t work for me, ill spend my days of WISE sketching.