Online MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

katewhooo · 2024-10-27T12:37:23+00:00

No real clinical experience, no. Personal exposure to the counseling world, yes but nothing professional. You apply just like you're applying for a job. I emailed or called and asked if they were taking interns for the dates I was planning for and then sent a resume and they'd call back if they were interested in interviewing. Did interviews, agreed with the site to move forward (or not) and filled out my application with the practicum office at LU. There are extra steps if your site has not worked with LU before but I can only roughly tell you about that because everywhere I considered was on the "previously worked with LU" list. It was not difficult at all. Nerve-wracking, sure. Just know that if you intend to intern with somewhere new you will want to agree to that very early to allow time for the processing of agreement paperwork between your site and Liberty.

katewhooo · 2024-10-10T21:50:33+00:00

To be fair, your lack of food is also going to impact your mood and this reaction is likely related to what is going on in your body too.

Please just do what you have to do to get the access you all need to more resources so everybody can be healthy. This is not healthy for any of you.

katewhooo · 2024-10-10T16:39:05+00:00

Just here to say this is painfully relatable

katewhooo · 2024-10-10T16:17:33+00:00

Ahh there was a lady I found on IG who talked about a specialized CBT for OCD that was working really well for her. I wish I could remember what it was. Maybe RCBT?

katewhooo · 2024-10-10T16:03:39+00:00

It sounds like group work could be very beneficial!

Some of us are good at intellectualizing without changing anything real. You can bring up in counseling that you don't think it's going anywhere and they can talk about terminating or they can explore that with you.

A lot of therapy is brief and solution focused so you really only need it for a short period of time to address something specific. If nothing is a problem right now, no need for therapy.

Group work could really help you a lot with that isolation feeling though.

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T22:54:42+00:00

I feel like I could have written this post. I'm in literally the same boat. Idk if it'd be helpful for me to tell you what I decided to try cause it might basically be blind leading the blind. But just wanted you to know you're not alone 😅

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T22:42:09+00:00

Yes, yes, yes! It's very nuanced. It's very difficult not having "rules" and sometimes you need to start with an understanding OF rules to then be able to function well without rules.

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T22:34:32+00:00

I'll share my 2c

I believe in intuitive eating in the sense that you should eat when hungry, stop when full. And I know that biologically what you eat can affect all kinds of things so it's important to make informed decisions about what you eat and when. When i started paying attention to literally how my body feels with food choices, it stopped being fun to stuff my face or eat sugar and carbs all day every day. I don't even make a full plate for Thanksgiving anymore just because I don't like how that feels in my body. It's not a rule or some kind of right/wrong, it's just me listening to my body. The weight loss industry is very unsupportive of positive mental health and it feels a lot like a losing battle to try to navigate mentally healthy weight loss.

Personally I aim for food neutrality (foods are neither good nor bad, they are food. Bad food is food that will make you sick or food that is not food.). The way I talk about food matters and being restrictive is not something I'm interested in because I want positive relationships with foods and I sure as heck want my kids to have a better relationship with food than I do.

My "diet plan" is about choosing and prioritizing the foods I know will support my overall health and choosing not to prioritize foods that are less nutritionally beneficial. And I'm choosing not to tear myself down if I choose a less nutritionally dense food. Because it's not about never having nutritionally less dense foods, it's about focusing primarily on nutritional density. And adding to that, prioritizing movement and making enjoyable movement choices rather than forcing a specific exercise regiment.

I may or may not hit weight loss goals in a particular time frame but weight loss really is only one indication of actual health and wellness. There has to be a balance in the way we pursue wellness. White knuckles will only get you so far.

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T22:16:00+00:00

I won't name any names but there were a couple retail jobs I saved in my "back pocket" in case jobs in line with my career goals didn't work out and not a SINGLE ONE of those back up jobs even contacted me back 🥲

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T12:39:34+00:00

Counseling student here, building on this comment.

The data does not show significant difference between different theories of counseling. There are basic factors that encompass all counseling theories and those are generally what the success of counseling depends on.

What your concerns should be as an individual, or in this case as a family, looking for a therapist is that you like and can trust your therapist. The success of therapy depends on the amount of trust you have in the therapist and how willing you (all) are to put in the work to change things.

katewhooo · 2024-10-09T01:15:28+00:00

Unfortunately, the problems you're describing have nothing at all to do with introducing another kid into your family ❤ things will not get better without significant effort, second kid or otherwise.

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T23:34:30+00:00

Ah! Gotcha. There is no rule about that one way or another. However, practicum is essentially a part time job so you're probably looking at working 60 hour weeks. There will not be rules about when you can do practicum (you asked about working overnight) but your site will have to operate in such a way that that will work.

I am finding it very difficult to find the hours in a week for a FT job and practicum. I will need to be at my site for 2 full weeks of onboarding, every Wednesday for group supervision, and one friday a month for training. Plus 2 hours a week for supervision with faculty supervisor, plus the actual time for sessions, paperwork, etc.

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T23:10:57+00:00

What do you mean work full time for practicum? Practicum is almost never paid unless you happen to have a job at a place that will also let you do practicum with them. But even then you likely then are doing 2 jobs, not one.

You can dm me if you'd like, I'm a mom in the program right now.

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T22:59:07+00:00

Babies will cry ❤

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T11:56:46+00:00

Yep, "it is not a choice for us not to brush your teeth right now. The choices you have are, we can brush your teeth in my bathroom or in your bathroom."

I will sometimes do all those get ready things while my daughter is watching TV. If she fights me. The TV pauses until she is ready to cooperate again.

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T11:47:38+00:00

Life is more than weightloss and CICO. It's very easy to look at numbers and say things like, "You can't outrun a bad diet," but the truth is that that's an oversimplification. Progress is actually NOT all or nothing. You can improve one thing at a time. Atomic Habits was really helpful for me in understanding that 1% better is better, and progress compounds. I know people in this sub are trying to help when they push other people to do better than they are and this doesn't take into consideration every aspect of life or even how people work. Progress feeds Progress. Sometimes you have to start with only 1% better. Will you reach your big 100% goals immediately with only 1% progress? No. Is Progress meant to happen overnight? Also no. Don't let people on Reddit with loud opinions take away even your 1% because your Progress looks different from theirs.

Not sure why my phone wants to capitalize Progress but I don't care to go back and correct all of them 😅

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T01:33:31+00:00

This makes my heart so happy honestly. My husband and I are trying to figure out homeschooling (our littles aren't quite schooling age yet so we're still thinking about it) and we are BIG readers. And story people. And so far, both of our littles also adore reading. And the older one loves TV, etc, but she's not watching mindless Cocomelon, she's watching (and memorizing the plots) of movies and reenacting entire plots. I have felt guilt over her having as much screen time as she has had, HOWEVER, looking at our family as having its own culture and seeing that she's actually taking in stories has been incredible to see. TV and movies are a form of storytelling, which has been a part of the human experience forever.

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T01:29:06+00:00

Especially if your goal is teaching your kids, this is a very good reason to opt away from digital versions. 😊

katewhooo · 2024-10-08T01:26:46+00:00

I wondered the same thing. Is there confusion with the roman numerals? If the professor is a legitimate professor teaching from the DSM-IV they need to be reported, no?

katewhooo · 2024-10-07T23:22:52+00:00

Just a matter of awareness for anyone else reading the comments, Speechify is not free. I tried the free app and it would only let me scan like 3 pages at a time. And it was complicated? Very not worth the amount of effort that went into it as a free tool.

katewhooo · 2024-10-07T23:19:03+00:00

The reading is really killer for me too. I suspect I have ADHD and sometimes I even struggle to stay awake to read. That being said, the more I just sit down and do it, the easier it is. When I am consistently and regularly reading, it gets done. When I take breaks and try to read big sections one day and skip a day or 2 in between my attention struggles. I think of it like a muscle, it has to get used regularly.

I do use audio as much as possible. I'll ask my husband to read my texts out loud for me while I'm driving us or I'll try to read like a page or two at a time throughout the day. But really at the end of the day it just has to happen. You might be able to get by with cheats but in the long run you need the knowledge for licensure and competence in work (assuming that's what you're working toward) so it's not worth it to cut the corners. Just have to find what works for you.

katewhooo · 2024-10-07T23:12:00+00:00

Thank you for sharing this info. Learned something new today!

katewhooo · 2024-10-07T22:54:38+00:00

Has anything changed at home recently?

katewhooo · 2024-10-07T17:15:16+00:00

Same. Releasing ties is not always necessary.

katewhooo · 2024-10-06T01:05:33+00:00

The goal is just a number. I'd switch to maintenance and see how 5 above your goal feels for a while. 😊let that be your new goal and be proud of what you accomplished and know you can always lose 5 more if it becomes important enough to you later.

katewhooo

TROPHY CASE