Practicum, Internship, and the Future....OHHH MYYY!!!

Are you feeling anxious about finding a practicum or internship site...or even a career for after graduation? Do not fret, you are not alone. The April 15th date may feel as though it is looming over you and there a few things that may help calm the anxiety:

1. Breathe!
2. Consider the area and client population you are interested in working with
3. Use the Professional Counseling Department Database: http://www.uwosh.edu/prfcnslinternships/all-practicums-and-internships
4. Seek out the advice of your faculty, especially Kathleen, and your fellow peers
5. Be persistent and follow-up-it's easy to get discouraged when you don't hear back immediately. Sometimes a phone call may result in a faster response.Remember that counseling professionals are busy people.

I have found that persistence was key in finding both a practicum and internship site. I am now reminding myself to continue to be persistent and PATIENT in my search for a career after graduation. Not surprisingly, I am following a similar process to what I outlined above. Job search sites such as monster.com and indeed.com are popular search engines for Student Affairs and Clinical Mental Health professionals. It may be helpful to set up email notifications for new job postings. For School Counseling graduates, the following website should be helpful: https://services.education.wisc.edu/wecan/

As promised at the last meeting, here are the links for how to answer the question "Tell me about yourself," as well as a resume guide:

Resume Guide: http://www.snc.edu/careers/docs/employment/resumecoverletterreferenceguide.pdf

How to Answer "Tell me about yourself:" http://www.snc.edu/careers/docs/employment/60secondcommercial.pdf

Happy searching future counselors!

Anna

Self-Care: It's Still and Will Always Be Important

I have learned so much about self-care and how it is a necessity if counselors are to be, and stay successful in the field. Personally, I went into the field of counseling because I enjoy helping people, especially children and adolescents. I have learned that in order to help my students the best that I can, I must first help myself. This means taking time out of my busy schedule to make time for me.

Taking this time has been liberating, frustrating and sometimes extremely hard. One of my self-care activities is reading a book for fun every night before I go to bed. Often times, instead of concentrating and enjoying my book, I find myself drifting away and thinking about what I could be doing related to school or my internship site. When this happens, I get angry with myself and then the time I am taking for self-care is not really self-care at all.

On the flip side, I do know that if I continue to schedule this time for me it will get easier. Practice makes perfect, right? I have no doubt that self-care does and will continue to be a part of my life. Not only am I doing it for myself, I am doing it for my students as well.

This week I am (along with many others in the program) attending the Wisconsin School Counseling Association (WSCA) Conference in Madison. Not only is this a great way to meet and make connections with school counselors from all over the state, it is a way to get away from the daily grind and take some time for yourself and your professional development. There are sectionals all day Wednesday and Thursday which range from how to use data in the schools, to ways to implement mindfulness in guidance curriculum. If you have not gone yet, plan to next year!

I have attached a link to this years sectionals if you would like an idea about what is presented at WSCA. 

2016 Conference Sectionals

Again, it is so important to take time for yourself. Reading for fun and attending WSCA are a few ways that I practice self-care. What are yours? Feel free to post below some of the ways you take care of yourself!



Happy Monday!

Amanda

New Beginnings

Hello all, and welcome to the Spring 2016 semester!  Chi Sigma Iota has a lot to offer this semester, and we’ll be keeping you posted as things unfold.  Some of the events we’re involved with include Bowl for Kids’ Sake, Training for Counseling Transgender and Non-Binary Individuals, certified Gottman Therapist training, and the LGBTQ Ally March, among other growth-promoting opportunities.  I’m excited to see you all at these wonderful events!

As I begin the new semester there are a lot of moving pieces in my schedule, in my physical space, and in my heart.  New beginnings are often poignant for me as I move through life’s journey.  Beginning something indicates that there has been an ending somewhere else, and it signifies the open door through which we walk to new possibilities.

My “ending” as I moved into this semester was the conclusion of my journey to India with twelve of my friends, colleagues, and fellow seekers of life’s deeper spaces.   As many of you know, the study abroad program Exploring Counseling, Culture, and Spirituality in India took place over winter break, and it is a piece of this program that I had been eagerly awaiting since receiving my acceptance letter over a year and a half ago.  Suffice it to say that I was not let down, though the trip did not necessarily go as I had expected.

I’ve found that traveling great distances in physical space goes hand-in-hand with traveling great distances inward because of the challenges, obstacles, and opportunities that present themselves along the way.  Wading through seas of humans, animals, vehicles, garbage, temples, death, and life challenged my understanding of the world, and called into question the clarity of the lens through which I view my life.  India was the cultivator that tilled the soil of my past, and here on the other side I’ve come to a few realizations, which are illustrated in two snippets of work from Joseph Campbell (an author and scholar that Charles introduced me to on the trip… thanks Charles!):

1.     “I’ve been saying ‘no’ to life all my life, and I think I’d better begin saying ‘yes.’”

2.     “We have to learn to participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.”

As you all begin your semester I would encourage you to reflect on these quotes.  What have you been saying “no” to in your life?  What passion have you let slip to the wayside?  What dreams have you allowed to lay dormant in pursuit of experiences less fulfilling?  What experiences have you avoided for fear that you will fail or that others might judge you harshly for exploring?  My advice to you (and my advice to myself) is to get after life with a tenacious hunger for what you love.  Do what makes you happy, not what you think others want you to do.

The second quote comes in handy when we fall flat on our face chasing those dreams.  Each time our expectations are shattered there is an opportunity dig deep and discover what we’re made of.  Joy is possible in those seemingly sorrowful moments when we had high hopes for something and it falls through.  It’s my personal belief that every moment has meaning, and those moments of struggle have a particularly important message to deliver if we open our hearts to it.  I wish you all a meaningful semester, however that might look for you!

Peace,

Anthony