3. Personal Statement Early in life I knew I wanted to be in a profession that helped people with issues they could not handle on their own. My older sister is bi-polar and I needed to know why she did certain things and acted a certain way. That is when I decided the psychology field was the field I needed to jump into. My first thought was to help children who were dealing with issues. However, the more and more I looked into the psychology field I decided I wanted to work with all types of people, not just children. Then I found the subfield of sex therapy. As a sex therapist I can work with children and adults. Not only can I help victims of a sexual crime but also with those who commit the crime. I decided working with both the victim and the assailant would be the best way to understand why the crime was committed and use that to help the victim realize this was not their fault. I also look forward to working with couples who are having sexual issues in their relationship. I started planning for my career as a sex therapist in high school by taking post secondary classes through the local college and receiving an A in General Psychology. Straight out of high school I went to the University of Wisconsin Superior and majored in Psychology and minored in Communications. However, due to a short termed illness I ended up switching schools to Argosy University where I continued to major in Psychology. While attending Argosy University I was offered and obtained membership into The National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
4. Personal Statement Upon graduation I hope to obtain employment within the psychology field. However, in order to reach my goal of becoming a sex therapist I need to continue my education by obtaining my Master’s Degree and then my Doctorate Degree, as well as becoming ASSECT certified. Since I am not qualified to become ASSECT certified yet and I am looking into obtaining a student membership with the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists (ASSECT). After graduation I plan on becoming an advocate for sexual abuse victims. There are many jobs that I can obtain after graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree such as a case worker, drug/substance abuse counselor, probation/parole officer, child protection worker and family service worker. I would like to obtain a job as a child protection worker, family service worker, or drug/substance abuse counselor because than I am dealing with family issues that may have sexual abuse problems involved. Therefore I am gaining experience in that field and knowledge while still pursuing my education. I do have some concerns about reaching my goal of becoming a sex therapist. Those would be having the refunds available in order to continue my education since graduate school is more expensive than undergraduate school. Another concern would be having the time to continue my education if I am working a full time job. Due to the fact that schooling is expensive I would need to be working full time in order to afford tuition.
5. Resume Kristine Edstrom 316 E 4th Ave N Aurora, MN 55705 peaches1038@gmail.com Phone: 218-591-6023 SUMMARY: I love working with people and finding a way to go up and beyond what is expected in order to satisfy the needs of that person. I have grew up and worked in the customer service field since 2006. EXPERIENCE: August 2009toPresent Holiday Inn Express Mountain Iron, MN Guest service representative Greet guests as they arrive. Make reservations, help with any issues regarding reservations and any other needs they may have while staying at the Holiday Inn Express. Thank guest and check them out upon departure. February 2006toDecember 2008 Tele Resources Duluth, MN Coach trainer, Quality Assurance, and phone representative Started out on the phones calling customers. After a few months I got promoted to coach trainer, where I was in charge of training new phone reps and coaching existing reps on what they can improve on. After a year and a few months I got promoted again to Quality Assurance where I reviewed calls and sales as well as monitored the phone reps to insure they were following proper guide lines. May 2005toSeptember 2005 Inland Mittal Steel Virginia, MN Labor Seasonal labor in the concentrator plant. Hosed floors, took samples, and moved up as concentrator attendant when someone was ill.
6. Resume EDUCATION: 2010 Argosy Phoenix, AZ BA Psychology GPA: 3.56 Will be graduating with my BA in Psychology on August 21, 2010. 2004University of Wisconsin Superior Superior, WI BA Psychology GPA: 3.6 Completed 102 credits towards my Psychology BA. RELATED COURSEWORK: I have taken many psychology classes in order to obtain my BA in psychology including Ethics in Psychology, Personality Theory, Interviewing Techniques, Counseling Theories, and Children and Violence. DISTINCTIONS: While a senior in high school I took the responsibility of Senior Class President and student council treasurer. At Tele Resources I was awarded Employee of the Month twice and Team Player of the Month once.
7. Reflection Coming into Argosy University I had already completed 102 credits towards my psychology degree. However, retaking some of the classes at Argosy not only gave me a refresher but also made me see psychology in a different way then my previous college. Argosy really made me think outside of the box and put myself in a client’s position. Learning how to apply my knowledge to everyday life was very useful. One of my weakness coming out of my experience with Argosy is that I was not able to exercise my oral communication skills while presenting psychological concepts orally as appropriate to the audience because we did not do any oral projects. My biggest challenge with oral communication skills would be grammatical issues such as using informal language. However, I can identify basic/general levels of organization and clarity of presentation.
8. Reflection Another one of my weaknesses would be written communication skills. I have a difficult time with formal academic writing with clarity in content, language use, grammar organization and sentence structure using APA formatting. However I can identify and discuss psychological concepts in written work. When it comes to collecting and arranging information from a variety of sources on a chosen topic, providing comprehensive explanations that incorporate psychological principals, empirical data and best practices, and am able to consistently and effectively apply active listening communication skills in interpersonal and organizational scenarios to establish empathetic, collegial relationships that facilitate consensus building in working toward common goals and is appreciative of diversity and culture, I have extensive exposure and feel confident.
9. Reflection Other strengths that I have are to correctly summarize the research design, statistical and other evaluative tools and findings of the research article, able to analyze the complexities of a given issue, understand the importance of awareness and knowledge/skill development in regards to diversity, recognize personal biases and increase awareness and respect for diverse populations, and exhibits the ability to analyze and apply the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, applications and historical trends in psychology. Not only have I grown as a psychology student but also as a mother. Learning ways to help teach my son positive behavior by classical conditioning or operant conditioning.
10. Table of Contents Communication Skills: Oral and Written Conducting interviews is an effective research technique for assessing personalities. Conduct a short interview, of 30-minutes duration, with someone you don’t know well. The intent of this exercise is to learn more about the person. Ask the following questions: What word best describes who you understand yourself to be? Mother What is your most important memory of childhood? Spending time with her father. What have you always wanted to do but have yet to do? What has kept you from pursuing that dream? Travel the world. Money has kept me from pursuing my dream. How will the person who knows you best describe you in one sentence? I am very caring and loving to those of my family and friends. If you could do one thing again in your life, what will it be? Start a career.
11. Table of Contents Communication Skills: Oral and Written cont. Write a paper of approximately 600 words that reflects what you have learned about this person’s personality. Analyze how this person sees himself or herself, how others perceive him or her, and whether he or she believes to have the ability to change his or her own behavior based on choices. When I first sat down with this lady she could not have been more polite and friendly. She had great posture and kept eye contact throughout most of the interview. This showed me she was confident and aware of how her appearance came across. When she spoke you could tell she had some education behind her and she was aware of how she was coming across. When I asked her what word describes who she understands herself to be, her eyes got big and her smile got huge. She responded “Mother!” with sheer joy. She then went on to tell me about her 3 children who from the sounds of things could do no wrong. After she told me about her children I asked her about her important memory of childhood and she mentioned there was more than one. It was anytime she spent time with her father because he had died before she was even a teenager. Just from those two questions I knew she was very much a family person and the type of person who would never turn their back on their family regardless of what they had done to her. She has always wanted to travel and see the world but she has focused on her family and has not have the money to. She was a stay at home mother but if she had to do it over again she would have started a career that way when her kids grew up and left the house she would still have the feeling of being needed by someone or something. This showed me that she is a very caring and giving person to give up her dream and career in order to take care of her family. She mentioned family in every question that I asked her. I think her family gives her a sense of belonging.
12. Table of Contents Communication Skills: Oral and Written cont. I do not believe she believes she has the ability to change her own behavior based on choices because she told me her life is almost over due to her being 75 years old. However, she said if she made different choices when she was younger her life would have been dramatically changed. Then after a pause she looked at me and said “I do not regret the choices I made earlier in life because I may not have had such wonderful children if I made a different choice.” I believe people view her as a very kind, caring person who would give the shirt off her back for those she loved even if it meant she would be cold. However, I think people have a broader view of her instead of just seeing her as a mother.
13. Table of Contents Ethics and Diversity Awareness A woman involved in a long-term, lesbian, domestic partnership has turned up at the agency six times in the past three months seeking referrals and, on one occasion, shelter due to battering by her partner. The agency director feels that his staff and the staff of local hospitals and clinics do not have sufficient information about dealing with domestic violence in lesbian and gay relationships. He wants you to include information in the outreach program on the similarities and the differences in domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships. Prepare a summary of the latest information on domestic violence that addresses the needs of both straight and gay or lesbian couples facing this issue. When someone is a victim of domestic violence they have needs regardless if they are straight or gay or lesbian. They will need temporary and permanent safe housing, financial assistance, medical reimbursement, privacy protection, counseling, social service support, advocacy, legal representation, vocational training and childcare (Moore, 2010). They will need a great support system. However, a gay man, lesbian or a bisexual will have other issues that do not pertain to a heterosexual. If they do want to report the abuse they have to want to admit their homosexuality and if they are not open about their sexuality it will be extremely hard to report such abuse.
14. Table of Contents Ethics and Diversity Awareness cont. Analyze how intervention can be sought with batterers of both sexes, and how victims of domestic abuse can be empowered. Intervention withboth sexes should begin with people who love and will support the batter and in a private safe place. There should be some one there that can help in case the batter ends up becoming violent. There should be someone there that can help the batter realize how he is affecting the victims life and how its affecting their lives. To help empower the victim you need to support them and not try to control them. They need to feel that they are in control in order to move out of the situation. You should also avoid being judgmental, critical, and avoid giving direction. What you want to do is offer to listen and accept them. This will offer them a safe relationship that is free of criticism and harsh comments. The best way to connect victims to resources to provide help, treatment, and information there should be flyers put out in most public places. They also need to have internet sites up about domestic abuse and list resources. Also having listing in areas they might turn to in order to find help such the phone book, community centers, and police stations. References: Moore, A. A. (2010). Domestic Violence Victims’ Needs in the 21st Century. Retrieved on June 25, 2010, from http://www.examiner.com/x-17770-Sacramento-Abusive-Relationships-Examiner~y2009m7d31-Domestic-violence-victims-needs-in-the-21st-century.
15. Table of Contents Foundations of Psychology Jake is attempting to teach his three-year-old son Robbie to stay away from the neighbor’s dog. When Robbie obeys his father, he gets a piece of candy. When he disobeys and tries to pet the dog, his father spanks him. These concepts of reinforcement and punishment are powerful shaping agents. Using Skinner’s concept of reinforcement, consider what aspects of your personality can be attributed to reinforcement or punishment. There was this one Christmas I will never forget. I did not see my biological father much in my childhood and therefore every time I got to spend time with him I never wanted it to end. This Christmas he took my older sister and me to Kmart to pick out our own Christmas gifts. This was the first time I ever got to pick out my own Christmas gift. My dad left me in the toy aisle while he took my sister to a different aisle and he told me not to move. I was so excited that I found a Barbie mobile home that I had wet my pants and stood there while people walked by and laughed. Finally my dad and sister to returned. My dad yelled at me for peeing myself and my sister made fun of me and was laughing so hard. Both my sister and my father used positive punishment. They added an unpleasant stimulus which was my sister making fun of me and laughing and my father yelling at me in order to try and make this situation less likely to reoccur (Feist & Feist, 2009). My father only yelled at me for a few minutes but my sister laughed and made fun of me for the whole day and periodically throughout the week and months afterwards. This actually worked because I do not remember peeing myself in a public place again.
16. Table of Contents Foundations of Psychology cont. The first time I got picked on for being overweight was devastating. I remember this boy telling me that I was ugly because I was fat and 3 times the size of my best friend. He told me he would rather kiss a boy before ever touching me. This really hurt because this was the time I started liking boys. All the kids who picked on me for being overweight used positive punishment by adding an unpleasant stimulus by picking on me and calling me names. They picked on me for years for my weight and sometimes I would just ignore it but sometimes it would sting and I would be hurt. However, it did make me want to lose weight but never enough where I did lose weight. The first time I went into the ditch with my father’s car will be with me forever. I was on my way to school in the middle of winter. The road was getting fixed the summer before but they ran out of time and left two hills with a dip between the two. I was running late for school so I was driving a little bit faster than I should have been going and when I went down the first hill I lost control of my car and went over the next hill straight into the ditch. I called my dad crying and he yelled at me the whole time. He told me I was the worst driver and did not deserve to have my own car. He refused to fix my car or have me drive a car that was in his name or under his insurance.
17. Table of Contents Foundations of Psychology cont. In this situation positive punishment and negative punishment were used. My father used positive punishment by yelling at me the whole time he was removing my car from the ditch and after he removed my car from the ditch. Since he refused to fix my car he also used negative punishment by removing my car from my use (Feist & Feist, 2009). However, due to me getting insurance and putting the car in my name this did not last long only about a month. At age 17 my dad sided with his wife, who did not like me, and kicked me out of their house. We lived an hour away from any other family members and it was right before my senior year. If I went to go live with family I could not graduate at the school I had been attending for the past 4 years. I ended up taking turns living with 2 of my co-workers throughout my senior year. This lasted 3 years and my dad and his wife used negative punishment by removing their friendship and love (Feist & Feist, 2009). At the same time during my senior year my co-workers added positive reinforcement by adding another option in order to stay at the same high school. References: Feist, J. & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of personality. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
18. Table of Contents Applied Psychology For this assignment, watch one hour of television. Split the viewing time into four 15-minute segments. The segments should include: A segment of a crime-related television program typically seen during prime time hours. A segment of a professional football, basketball, or hockey game. A segment of a children’s movie. A segment of a WWE wrestling competition. Note the types of behavior being portrayed in the segments, especially the scenes containing violence. A description of the actual programs viewed. The four TV shows that I watched are Criminal Minds, NBA Finals game 6, Dora the Explorer, and WWE. While watching Criminal Minds I got the story line to be a group of special FBI agents who go after serial killers. This particular episode they were trying to catch a killer who started killing people in a small Alaskan town. Most of the time you do not see violence just when someone gets killed or the crime scene photos but even then you do not see anything that is too gory and you do not see the actual killing happen. The two teams in the NBA Finals are the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers. This was game 6 and the LA Lakers were out to win. Both teams were doing well and there were little fouls when I was watching at this point and time. However, the only violence you see during a game is an elbow to the face or gut. During a basketball game the players can get a little rough but nothing that is major.
19. Table of Contents Applied Psychology cont. I watched Dora the Explorer for my children’s show. She was on her way to her and Boots soccer game. They had to complete different tasks in order to proceed upon their path. They came to a bridge that had a troll protecting it and in order to get past Dora and Boots had to guess the song the troll was humming. I did not see any violence during this movie. During the WWE show all I seen was violence. When I turned on the show it was at the beginning of a match between two wrestlers (I forgot their names and did not write it down). I was in shock at how many little kids were in the audience. This show is all violence. When they are not in the ring slamming each other, hitting each other, or jumping from the top rope onto each other, they are verbally abusing each other. Speculation on the various types of reinforcement that could accompany each segment. Mention what the reinforcements are and how they could prompt a child to become more aggressive due to the reinforcement. There are two main types of reinforcements (Feist & Feist, 2009). Positive reinforcement is when you add a stimulus such as praise and cheer (Feist & Feist, 2009). Negative reinforcement is when you remove an aversive stimulus such as a removal of someone yelling at you (Feist & Feist, 2009). The show Criminal Minds has positive reinforcement. When a serial killer murders someone he is getting the added stimulus of power and at first the excitement of being able to get away with murder. If the group of FBI agents does not catch the killer the child could become more aggressive because they learned how to “get away” with murder. However, this show usually has the killer being caught.
20. Table of Contents Applied Psychology cont. During the NBA Finals there are many positive and negative reinforcements. Some of the positive reinforcements are every time someone on the home team makes a basket then the fans in the crowd cheer and applaud for that player. If a team does well enough to win they advance on to the next game. Tonight whoever wins the game ends up being the 2010 NBA Champions. When you are violent towards the other team a foul is usually called and the ball is either given to the other team or they get a free throw. This is a negative reinforcement because the ball is taken away from that team and given to the other team. If one player gets too many fouls the coach or the referee will take him out of the game. Dora the Explorer is full of positive reinforcements. Every time Dora and Boots complete a task they have a little bug band that plays them a quick song and they do a dance. Also when they complete a task they are allowed to advance in their path to their destination. Once they reach their destination they are usually rewarded with something that is fun to do or a reward in some way. Dora does have negative reinforcement as well. When Swiper tries to take something from Dora or her friends, they all yell at him “Swiper no swiping!” They yell this over and over again until he gives up. I do not think children will be encouraged to be more violent by watching Dora the Explorer. WWE is one huge prompt to be more violent. They have positive reinforcement for violent behavior. When a wrestler hits another wrestler with a chair the crowd erupts in cheer and praise for that wrestler. This encourages the wrestler to keep on hitting the other wrestler with objects and his body. This could prompt a child to become more aggressive and want to do violent acts in order to be more like their “heroes” on WWE.
21. Table of Contents Applied Psychology cont. A summary of your observations. Children’s shows should not show violence at all. If violence is shown it should show the negative outcomes that violence and bring. However, adult programs such as Criminal Minds should be able to have violence without the worry of children becoming more aggressive because their show was not made to be directed at children. That is when parental control and supervision comes into play. Adults need to make sure what their children is watching is appropriate for their age. When it comes to sports, there should not be violence because all children grow up watching sports or at least knowing about sports. Wrestling is considered a sport but if they do it wrong it could kill someone. Basketball on the other hand is not violent but there are times when the players accidently or maybe on purpose elbow a player on the other team and cause a bloody nose. Children who are into sports should have a coach or someone of that nature that can show them the correct way to play the sport so no one gets hurt. References: Feist, J. & Feist, G. (2009). Theories of personality. (7th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
22. My Future in Learning Graduating with a degree in psychology does not mean that I will be done learning about the field. I will be taking more classes in the future in order to keep up with all the new ideas and theories that help us advance in the psychology field. Keeping up to date on the theories and ideas will help me be a better person and help my clients become better people as well. I plan on continuing my education by receiving my Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology. Once I am settled into a job I plan on keeping my education fresh and updated by doing personal research on specific areas that I am working in. I am willing to take any additional classes that my job will require in order to keep my education up to date so I can continue to be an asset to the company.
23. Contact Me Thank you for viewing my ePortfolio. For further information, please contact me at the e-mail address below. peaches1038@gmail.com
