Diary of an ACS Intern
Written By: Paul Wright, Clinical Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program
after years of floundering around in dead-end, soul-sucking jobs, I concluded that I can still change the direction of my life and choose something that is more fulfilling. I talked with several people, did some research and realized I’ve been reading about psychology most of my life, but had never thought of it as a career possibility. I started researching graduate schools and am now in my final semester at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU).
My name is Paul Wright and yes, I’m a 57 years old intern starting a new career in Clinical Psychology.
I’ve loved learning psychology theory in my two and a half years at NDNU, but this is my first year in practicum at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park putting theory into practice. I am counseling fourth through eighth graders two and a half days per week and have learned a lot about being a therapist and about myself. I’ve also learned that applying theory to real life situations can be very challenging, and that is a big part of learning how to be a therapist. There are so many ways you can be thrown a curve ball on a daily basis that graduate school may not prepare you for. The politics of a school system, the daily stress that teachers have to deal with, the logistics of a crazy middle school bell schedule, the reams of paperwork, and speaking with parents are just a few of the challenges, all while trying to accumulate the number of face-to-face practicum hours needed in order to graduate.
On the other side of the equation is the huge amount of support we get from so many different people. Another part of the requirements for graduation is a certain number of hours of individual and group supervision. Individual supervision is when you talk with a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for one hour per week and talk about your clients and how best to serve them. This is also a time to get support for any issues we might have coming up for us as new therapists in training (yes, we’re human too and need the same type of support that we’re giving others). Also, for two hours per week, we meet with other ACS interns in a group setting and discuss client and personal issues that come up so we can learn from each other and be guided by the experience of another licensed professional therapist. Not only that, as part of our Master’s curriculum, we have to take a class called Case Seminar, in which we also discuss anything we are dealing with, with our fellow classmates…even more support!
I’m excited with all this support, experience and personal growth to start to shape the kind of therapist I want to be, with the help of so many compassionate people at ACS and NDNU. I can’t wait to see the positive impact I can have on others and move forward in my new field that is just as much an art as it is a science.