Abstract
The doctoral journey is a long, winding road lined with a multitude of carefully and strategically placed stepping stones. Each stone is there to help propel learners forward towards their respective goals and dreams. The first step in my doctoral journey and pursuing a Ph.D. in General Psychology began with a single course: PSY8002 – Foundations of Theory and Practice in Doctoral Psychology. This course has provided a solid foundation for understanding why I am here on this path, what I hope to become, and how I will turn my vision(s) into reality through various engaging learning activities and challenging written assignments. It is hoped that an in-depth evaluation of what has been learned will enhance the practice of self-reflection and afford a robust basis for successfully moving forward towards my ultimate goals.
Introduction
Psychology has been an area of profound interest for as far back as I can remember. Understanding human behavior, cognitive processes, social interactions, personality divergences, intelligence and learning aptitudes, mental health, and the overall human condition has almost always been vital to comprehend. When I can develop a deep and insightful understanding of something complex and multifaceted, I feel more prepared to apply that knowledge within life, in work, and in relationships and interactions with others. Upon completing my Master's degree, the decision to pursue my Ph.D. felt like the most natural and logical thing to do. This next step was an instinctive progression towards achieving my ultimate goal – branching out and breaking into the teaching field, but explicitly endeavoring to teach within my area of focus and specialization.
Although I am no stranger to the learning game, up until this point, I was in the role of practitioner-scholar. However, now I begin taking on the role of scholar-practitioner, which according to McClintock (2004), means developing knowledge and professional activities around "collaborative and relational learning through active exchange within communities of practice and scholarship" (p. 393). Further, on this path, I begin developing the skills and experience it takes to be a doctoral-level psychologist. However, what does it mean to be a doctoral-level psychologist? Is it just some fancy title that comes along with this particular degree? This entire course revolved around understanding what it takes to become a doctoral-level psychologist. Thus, this reflection essay will examine this role while also taking a deep dive into answering the questions of why I am here, what I hope to become, and how I plan to achieve my envisioned goals.
Why Are You Here?
Commencing down the doctoral path was a natural and sensible decision; however, the choice was not made on a whim. In fact, a doctorate in psychology did not become altogether clear until I completed my first class within my Minor during the time I pursued my BA. Once I began diving into the material, I quickly became compelled to learn as much as possible in this field of study. Those early classes, where I was just beginning to wade through the trenches of researching, analyzing, synthesizing, and creating detailed discussions and written compositions around popular theorists, methodologies, and approaches to understanding the overall human condition, really brought to fruition my passion for understanding how we humans tick and function in all our respective roles. Those classes are what drove me to go for my Master's in Psychology. Thus, at the most basic level, I am here to continue pursuing and feeding that passion and to continue expanding my skills and knowledge so that I can actively apply theory to practice in real-world situations and break into my chosen career field.
The field of psychology is a broad one. Multiple sub-fields explore the diverse aspects of us humans. While each sub-domain of psychology harnesses its own appeal within the college of professional studies, the specialization that I have chosen to take up is general psychology. General psychology presents the unique opportunity to acquire a more amalgamated knowledge base rather than focusing on one specific subfield; it is an area that interests me because of its firm basis in the general study of the mind. According to the American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, general psychology is:
The broad study of the basic principles, problems, and methods underlying the science of psychology, including areas of behavior, human growth and development, emotions, motivation, learning, the senses, perception, thinking processes, memory, intelligence, personality theory, psychological testing, behavior disorders, social behavior, and mental health. The study is viewed from various perspectives, including physiological, historical, theoretical, philosophical, and practical (APA, 2018).
The primary reason for pursuing a Ph.D. derives from the yearning for active dialogue, broadening knowledge, and my innate curiosity to explore topics and fields of study that challenge me, my beliefs, values, and perspectives at every level. Through this critical evaluation of one's own beliefs, values, and perspectives, a real researcher and scholar are born because it affords the ability to support or reexamine said beliefs, values, and perspectives with empirical data. As Ruscio (2006) states, "we assign great weight to evidence that favors our beliefs and ignore or discredit threatening evidence" (p. 121); however, in so doing, we set ourselves up to become victims of bias and less credible in our personal and professional roles.
A secondary motivation manifested as a calling toward being in a role/profession that enables me to serve others. Whether that be a health and wellness coach, a caregiver to children or the elderly, a social worker, an educator, and so forth, my biggest calling in life is to help others lead healthy, happy, fulfilled lives. However, I also see myself in the role of a researcher. I am a scholar at my core, and learning is an intense obsession. A doctorate opens more doorways for me to engage in that passion for pursuing knowledge in the role of researcher and creator of information. However, I have learned throughout this course that before I get to jump into the deep end in my role as researcher/creator of information, I will spend some more time swimming in the shallow end with the rest of the consumers and commentators.
Additionally, an essential aspect of beginning this Ph.D. journey was selecting the best school to fulfill my needs. I searched long and hard, weighed all of my options, internally battled whether or not I should continue with online learning or find a "traditional" campus with face-to-face interactions, and looked into what would be the most cost-effective. I was apprehensive about completing another degree online due to the bad reputation that most online degrees receive within society; however, this course taught me otherwise. For instance, Green (2015) explains that web-based universities/programs are no longer perceived as inferior to your more traditional brick-and-mortar university and how they are now recognized as "current, demanding, applicable, and respected in a world of rapid growth and change" (p. 29). Further, it was explicated how employers are more appreciative of these web-based/distance learning programs because they interfere less with employees' work and personal lives, yet there is no sacrifice in the quality of education (Green, 2015).
The value of my degree is not only important to me, but it will also be relevant to future employers. Knowing that I have selected a University that is going to help prepare me for my future career by providing challenging, relevant, intensive coursework as well as residencies that give me a chance to network, interact with, and garner valuable insight/feedback from peer colleagues and faculty, delivers a sense of confidence and dignity. Although I am just beginning, I am already learning how to effectively identify and clarify a problem, summarize existing literature, evaluate and integrate published works, distinguish relationships, and pinpoint gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions within research literature (Granello, 2001). As they are further developed, these abilities will enable me to learn better the art of synthetization and how to apply it later in my professional work. At the end of this journey, I know that I will be able to walk across that stage and accept my diploma with a high degree of pride because it will have been earned through nothing short of hard work and relentless dedication.
What Are You Trying to Become?
When I was five, I wanted to be a princess so that I could use my wealth and rank within society to help all the underprivileged and struggling classes. Suffice it to say, I was somewhat distraught when I learned that I was NOT a princess but belonged more to the struggling class. When I was ten, I told my mom I wanted to go to Harvard Law and become a lawyer to defend abused women and children. I did not make it to Harvard, but I learned enough from books at the library to be able to emancipate myself from an abusive home life and help my mom find the courage to leave her abusive marriage. There were many other similar events in my life, like the abovementioned, where I wanted to be something but never made it to the completion part of those aims. I have to believe that all those dreams and aspirations were leading me right to where I am now – working to become a scholar, researcher, and educator within a field that allows me to explore and teach the ends and outs of the good, bad, beautiful, and ugly sides of human beings.
Being in a helping profession comes with a great deal of power and influence as these roles are central to the future health and welfare of societies, and, as current professionals, it is through our work that the ethics and professional identities of future helping professions will be shaped. With that said, something that I learned in this course that has significantly altered my thinking and behavior concerns ethical norms and how they can diverge or be influenced based on things like culture, gender, religion, and even one's profession and overall job security. This topic reminded me of a time when my brother stole a copy of one of his history tests in high school so that he could maintain his "C" average to stay on the baseball team. As his sister, I was placed in a unique position of remaining loyal to my brother and keeping silent about his unethical behavior or holding him to a higher standard and revealing his transgressions to the proper authorities. I remained silent, and that silence chipped away at my own character. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have allowed him to compromise his integrity, and I would not have sacrificed my own to ease his pressure of maintaining high standards of performance to earn his place on that team.
Langlais (2006) discussed the issue of existing ethical codes and guidelines not being adequately taught to future professionals in a way that guarantees comprehensive understanding and impending professional upstanding. Further, Martinson, Anderson, and de Vries (2005) presented empirical evidence illustrating how widespread unethical behavior is among scientists, especially in terms of their research. It was interesting to explore dishonesty and make inferences about why it occurs to the extent that it does. While there are many possible motives for such behavior, I believe one of the most significant possibilities for why dishonesty exists within professionalism to the degree that it does is because even though there exits a context for ethical norms, people still infer, evaluate, and apply these norms in sundry ways that ultimately line up with their own life experiences and values. Looking ahead, it is going to be critical to practice creating an environment that affords a nonjudgmental, safe, and open, space for clients, research subjects, students, etc., while also acknowledging that I may hold strong opposing beliefs (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2015) in order to preserve the integrity of my work and the dignity of those I collaborate with.
Additionally, having learned this will ensure that as I develop my own professional identity as a scholar-practitioner and doctoral-level psychologist, my identity will be born from honesty, integrity, and modeling the behavior congruent with the high standards set forth by the university, the APA and other professional organizations that are applicable here, as well as any state, local, and federal laws that may govern my chosen profession. As I work to make an impact in the field of psychology by adding to it via the critical study of current trends within the profession and the cultivation of new and valuable knowledge through my research, maintaining excellent professionalism by upholding best practices will be vital to my success. Through my hard work, dedication, and commitment to educating and shaping the minds of our future generations, I hope that I will help leave the world a little less discordant.
How Will You Do This?
The progression towards the terminal degree and my future profession will be one that I will need to navigate intelligently and judiciously. Reflective practice is going to be a crucial component in my overall success. Ashby (2006) explicates how models for reflective practice enable professionals to ponder events, whether positive or negative, and partake in critical analysis in the attempt to learn and move on. This practice of self-reflection opens a space for professionals to view incidents from diverse perspectives rather than just focusing on our personal reactions to the event(s). Though the self-reflective practice is an essential part of thriving as a helping professional, it can also be utilized in one's personal life. By implementing this system into my everyday life, I will be better able to examine situations and events from multiple perspectives, further cultivate critical analysis skills, absorb and identify my emotional responses, and extend my ability to learn effective ways to tackle future events as they occur. This will also be beneficial in assessing my interactions with other professionals and ensuring that I am upholding the level of expectations and responsibility that come with being a doctoral-level psychologist.
Further, and on a final note, another aspect in efficaciously achieving my goals is to be actively intentional in my interactions with other professionals and build a robust network to engage with as I advance through my degree program. This will be accomplished through various means; however, starting out, I will be connecting more with other professionals in my area(s) of interest via LinkedIn. Once genuine relationships have been forged, I plan to take what I have learned in this course about informational interviewing and apply it to those connections. The more I learn, the better prepared I will be when I make my grand debut into the professional realm. Also, becoming a member of the American Psychological Association within my specific division, which according to the Divisions of APA website, general psychology is Division 1 (APA, n.d.), will open more opportunities to making valuable connections, staying current in topics within my specialization, and discovering future potential employment opportunities. Although my chosen path does not require I obtain licensure, there is a level of experience required, which I lack in some respects. Thus, volunteering may bode well in my case to help fill those gaps and exemplify my skills, knowledge, and expertise. I will do everything necessary to guarantee my victory when it comes down to it. Look out, world! Here I come!
References
American Psychological Association. (2018). APA Dictionary of Psychology – General psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/general-psychology
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Divisions of APA. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/division/index.aspx
Ashby, C. (2006). Models for reflective practice: The journal for nurses in general practice the journal for nurses in general practice. Practice Nurse, 32(10), 28-32.
Granello, D. H. (2001). Promoting cognitive complexity in graduate written work: Using Bloom's taxonomy as a pedagogical tool to improve literature reviews. Counselor Education & Supervision, 40(4), 292-307. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6978.2001.tb01261.x
Green, J. L. (2015). Graduate savvy: Navigating the world of online higher education (3rd Ed.). Warrenton, VA: Global Press.
Langlais, P. J. (2006). Ethics for the next generation. Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(19), B11.
Martinson, B. C., Anderson, M. S., & de Vries, R. (2005). Scientists behaving badly [PDF]. Nature, 435(7043), 737–738.
McClintock, C. (2004). Scholar practitioner model. In A. Distefano, K. E. Rudestam, & R. J. Silverman (Eds.), Encyclopedia of distributed learning (pp. 393–397). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ruscio, J. (2006). Critical Thinking in Psychology: Separating sense from nonsense (2nd Ed). Cengage Learning, Inc. [Capella]. Retrieved from https://capella.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781133637516/
Sommers-Flanagan, R., & Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2015). Becoming an ethical helping professional: Cultural and philosophical foundations. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.library.capella.edu
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