I have always known that I wanted to have a career that involved working with children. I understood in high school that I was like a "child whisperer." I know, silly and possibly creepy term, but it is the best term I have to describe how good I am working with children. You see and hear about people called "animal whisperers" or "horse whisperers." It basically means that the person is really good and insightful when working with a certain animal. Well, that is how I am with children. All (well almost all) children seem to love me immediately. In stores, I can get every (small) child to smile and laugh and talk. When I was a helper in dance classes for young children, they would often call the real dance instructor by my name. I never understood it then, because I was the one who was in charge of discipline and technique corrections. I was the one who made little girls cry because they thought I was mad at them or I put them in time out.
I am impatient with many things, but my patience with children is pretty endless. I seem to understand what children want and need without them verbally explaining it. I joke with friends that I am better at talking to children than adults. I just seem to have an intuition when it comes to children.
I haven't worked with children of all ages, but I seem to work best with children about 8 years of age and younger. My favorite age group is about 4 years of age and younger. I have known for a long time that I wanted to somehow work with young children, but I didn't know what I wanted to do specifically.
Growing up and until my first high school psychology class, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I loved playing "school" when I was young and I loved the thought that I would be teaching bright young minds. For a time in high school, I stopped wanting to be a teacher due to the amount of paperwork. I focused on photography instead because I have a good eye for angles and I love crafty and artsy things.
After my very first psychology class when I was 17, I knew that I wanted to go to school for psychology and I wanted to work with children. I knew I had a natural ability to work well with children, but that wasn't enough. I wanted to understand why children acted like they did. Why did I withdrawal from everything after my parents' separation while my brother acted out? How could my brother and I look so similar and yet act so differently? Why did some teenagers have to be so catty and judgmental and fake? Why are so many people so insecure? I also wanted to know why I was able to work well with children when other people weren't. Maybe it is because my mom did daycare from our home and I had practice working with kids from a young age. Maybe it is because my mom modeled behaviors that I picked up on. At the time I had no idea.
Currently, I am in my 7th year of higher education in psychology and I am finally realizing some reasons why I am so good with children and what I want to do with my career. This enlightenment has been very slow and very frustrating at times, but it has been worth it.
Through my classes and clinical experience, I have slowly narrowed down what I want to do and what I am good at doing. In year 1 of grad school, I thought that I loved CBT. Then, in year 2, I tried it with a real client. I quickly realized that I am not good at CBT and that I may like the theory, but I do not like it in practice. It wasn't until year 3 that I realized I love Humanistic theory and that I take a Humanistic approach in session. This was the first part of my enlightenment. I had been doing Humanistic therapy without realizing it and feeling bad about myself because I wasn't doing CBT like my supervisor wanted.
Another part of my enlightenment occurred this past year (year 3) as well. I am conducting assessments with children at my current practicum site. I realized that I love doing assessments with adult, but hate doing them with children. When I see children, I build rapport easily and then become a bad guy because children think of the assessments like they do their schoolwork. All I want is to talk with the children and make them feel safe and secure and help them build skills so they can help themselves feel and act better. I have been told by parents and other people that know my clients that I have "gotten through" or "no one has ever been able to get my child to do ____ before." When I hear that, all I want is to go back to the child and work with them more.
The final part (so far) of this enlightenment occurred today. The new semester just began which means new classes. In one class, we are learning about play therapy and I love it! Without being technical and long winded, part of play therapy is observing the child, while interacting with the child, and putting the child's actions into words. It is kind of like being the voice of the child because the child either cannot verbalize his own thoughts/feelings or because the child does not understand his thoughts/feelings and therefore is unable to put them in words. This isn't an easy task for all people. For me, I am able to use my natural skills and intuition while making a difference.
Before learning about play therapy, I was unsure about what I liked. There just wasn't a type of therapy that "fit." Now, I know what I want to do and I am excited. Hopefully this excitement will get me through the next few years of stress and school and completing education things that I need, but don't really like.
I am impatient with many things, but my patience with children is pretty endless. I seem to understand what children want and need without them verbally explaining it. I joke with friends that I am better at talking to children than adults. I just seem to have an intuition when it comes to children.
I haven't worked with children of all ages, but I seem to work best with children about 8 years of age and younger. My favorite age group is about 4 years of age and younger. I have known for a long time that I wanted to somehow work with young children, but I didn't know what I wanted to do specifically.
Growing up and until my first high school psychology class, I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I loved playing "school" when I was young and I loved the thought that I would be teaching bright young minds. For a time in high school, I stopped wanting to be a teacher due to the amount of paperwork. I focused on photography instead because I have a good eye for angles and I love crafty and artsy things.
After my very first psychology class when I was 17, I knew that I wanted to go to school for psychology and I wanted to work with children. I knew I had a natural ability to work well with children, but that wasn't enough. I wanted to understand why children acted like they did. Why did I withdrawal from everything after my parents' separation while my brother acted out? How could my brother and I look so similar and yet act so differently? Why did some teenagers have to be so catty and judgmental and fake? Why are so many people so insecure? I also wanted to know why I was able to work well with children when other people weren't. Maybe it is because my mom did daycare from our home and I had practice working with kids from a young age. Maybe it is because my mom modeled behaviors that I picked up on. At the time I had no idea.
Currently, I am in my 7th year of higher education in psychology and I am finally realizing some reasons why I am so good with children and what I want to do with my career. This enlightenment has been very slow and very frustrating at times, but it has been worth it.
Through my classes and clinical experience, I have slowly narrowed down what I want to do and what I am good at doing. In year 1 of grad school, I thought that I loved CBT. Then, in year 2, I tried it with a real client. I quickly realized that I am not good at CBT and that I may like the theory, but I do not like it in practice. It wasn't until year 3 that I realized I love Humanistic theory and that I take a Humanistic approach in session. This was the first part of my enlightenment. I had been doing Humanistic therapy without realizing it and feeling bad about myself because I wasn't doing CBT like my supervisor wanted.
Another part of my enlightenment occurred this past year (year 3) as well. I am conducting assessments with children at my current practicum site. I realized that I love doing assessments with adult, but hate doing them with children. When I see children, I build rapport easily and then become a bad guy because children think of the assessments like they do their schoolwork. All I want is to talk with the children and make them feel safe and secure and help them build skills so they can help themselves feel and act better. I have been told by parents and other people that know my clients that I have "gotten through" or "no one has ever been able to get my child to do ____ before." When I hear that, all I want is to go back to the child and work with them more.
The final part (so far) of this enlightenment occurred today. The new semester just began which means new classes. In one class, we are learning about play therapy and I love it! Without being technical and long winded, part of play therapy is observing the child, while interacting with the child, and putting the child's actions into words. It is kind of like being the voice of the child because the child either cannot verbalize his own thoughts/feelings or because the child does not understand his thoughts/feelings and therefore is unable to put them in words. This isn't an easy task for all people. For me, I am able to use my natural skills and intuition while making a difference.
Before learning about play therapy, I was unsure about what I liked. There just wasn't a type of therapy that "fit." Now, I know what I want to do and I am excited. Hopefully this excitement will get me through the next few years of stress and school and completing education things that I need, but don't really like.
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