Through my experience in human development, my understanding of lifespan has expanded past a basic concept of life stages. Currently, I understand the complexitites and growth that exist over the span of life. 

     One of the most critical concepts I now recognize is developmental psychology. A major influence on my understanding of this is Erik Erickson. The eight stages of life have played a significant role in how I work with my clients. These stages impact our indentity and how we view the world. 

     In addition to Erickson's developmental stages, learning about trauma over the lifespan has been effective in my career. I've realized there are a multitude of ways trauma shows up in my clients and how it shapes their view of the world. The knowledge I've gained from this coursework has helped me understand that our development is not linear and we may find ourselves struggling with past traumatic events. 

     Human development has increased my care and empathy for those around me. I've made it a point to remember that everyone has been through something. 

lifespan final.ppt

This artifact is about postpartum depression in women. It shows how it not only impacts women, but men and children too. This artifcact provided me with valuable information on how the many differences of postpartum issues, which impact many women across the globe. 

     Group therapy look be used in a mulitude of ways. How a group is conducted often depends on the overall goal of the group and the facilitor or co-facilitor. Group sessions provide individuals with a safe space and encouragement from peers who are navigating similar challenges. Group therapy can be held in different settings, such as schools, hospitals or correctional facilities. 

     Group sessions require organized and detailed planning to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all who attend. Group facilitators hold a significant responsibility of implementing proper strategies that help promote group cohesion. One of the most crucial components of group therapy is to ensure all members understand rules ans expectations of the group. 

     Group sessions can come in different aspects such as,  psychoeducational, counseling and support groups. During my time in my graduate program, I've had multiple experiences creating mock counseling proposals and participating as a member in the group setting. These experiences have helped prepare my in the role of  observe different types of groups in natural settings, and create a group that would be would used as a part of our service learning experience. 

    Group counseling enables counselors to observe how individuals navigate social settings while they work on their realtionship-building skills. When reflecting back on my own experiences as both an observer and participant in group sessions, I've been able to recognize how people come together when they're facing similar hardships. I have gained a deep appreciation for the diverse way people face their emotions and cope with their situations.

     I consider myself an organized and adaptable person. My training in group counseling has allowed me to understand the importance of flexibility. Using flexibility on my internship site at Cook County Corrections has helped to gain the trust of many in the groups I've led. Remaining present and flexible has ensured that members of the group feel safe to become more open and vulnerable with one another. I want to make sure each individual member feels seen and heard in my groups. As a part of my groups, I request feedback from members that I continue to incorporate into future group sessions. I am excited to continue my journey and learn more as a facilitator. 

  group proposal.edited.docx

This artifact is a prospal I created with a partner based around grief. We created this to bring awareness on the different forms of grief people experience in life. This group work experience gave me the perfect opportunity to run a "coping with grief" group in the corrections setting that I'm currently working at. 

     My diversity class has helped my gain a deeper understanding of multiculturalism. Along with expanding my knowledge on diversity, I've gained an awareness of my own worldview. Engaging in this coursework helped me recognize how diversity is an important and complex aspect that makes up how someone navigates through the world.

     My personal worldview has been shaped by many layers, such as education, upbringing and environment. Taking the time to reflect on what I've learned in diversity helped me realize that I was not fully aware of how my own cultural background influenced bias and assumptions. 

     Cultural immersion was one of the most important parts of this coursework. Engaging with individuals from different communities encourages me to remain open-minded and step out of my comfort zone. This helped me learn to become more flexible with clients in my session

     One of the most important takeaways I've gained is the importance of showing up to discussion with the intent to understand instead of respond. I understand cultural competence is an on-going process and require active self-awareness. As I move forward, I must remain aware that individual have different cultural norms. It is my job to remain educated and know a little about everything. 

cultural immersion experience.edited.doc

This artifact break down the importance of different perspectives. If forced us to take a hands on approach and be in the present, which can be hard to do since we are in school.  I enjoyed getting to discuss another culture's worldview and understand those around me. It helped me step outside my comfort zone and understand how I'm supposed to show up in session for my clients. 

     Over the course of Research Methods, I've developed an understanding of the many layers that exist in research. Prior to this class, I just saw it as basic information. This class helped me recognize that the data gathered is often structured and critical and takes careful planning. 

     One of the most important aspects I've gained from this class is the ability to formulate proper and focused research questions. As someone who struggles with numbers and math, this coursework was informative and helped me realize how accountability in research is crucial. 

     This class has helped me grow as a counselor and researcher. I feel more confident in my ability to apply the research I come across in my own experience. Also, this class has helped me understand scholarly articles much better. 

final research proposal.pdf

This artifact showcases an extenstive research group project. This taught me the importance of quantitative versus qualitative and how it impacted research. This research proposal was broken down into a lot of foundation work, which helped us understand the importance of the data behind.