Tag: clinical psychology preparation

Psychology and Distance Learning

Psychology is a special form of discipline or study. It basically concerns itself with the mind and its corresponding behavior. It seeks to understand an individual or a group through specific principles with the use of research and some generally accepted theories. An expert in psychology is called a psychologist. Psychologists explore a wide variety of subjects and theories in the course of his duty. Perceptions, emotions, intelligence, motivations, personality, brain functioning and even interpersonal talk are some of the things a psychologist has to deal with in his client.

Most colleges and universities offer Psychology as an integral part of their curriculum. In fact, some courses that don’t primarily concern itself with psychology include it as one of their minor subjects. It is essentially a part of every student’s education. The course also has to keep up with the times. Online schools are a dime a dozen nowadays that you could literally choose from a long list of them with just a press of a key, and, as anticipated, Psychology degrees are also offered.

You might no longer see the need to literally go to a conventional school for you to have that Psychology career. A lot of distance learning institutions are offering this course with modern concepts and technology, along with its affordable entry at times, from enrollment to your monthly tuition. It has become more accessible over the years. You could literally have it everywhere, even at the privacy of your own home. A student of psychology can now study the empirical and deductive methods of psychology as fast as the speed of his internet connection.

The availability of Psychology as a degree online is a breakthrough. It can now easily connect with other sciences that has its recent rise in the internet as well such social sciences, humanities and medicine.

Psychology and Memory

Psychology derives from Greek roots meaning study of the psyche, or soul. It is defined as the study of the mind and behavior. Psychology, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific areas.

With Psychology as the study of the mind, it leads us to memory. One function of the mind is to store and remember information. Memory is the sum total of what we remember, and gives us the capability to learn and adapt from previous experiences as well as build relationships.

However, our memory is not perfect or immune to errors. Sometimes we forget things from important to mundane that, one way or another, play such a pervasive and pivotal role in our daily lives. For example, forgetting a friend’s birthday or misplacing an important document.

Daniel L. Schacter, psychologist and memory expert, presented a framework designed to outline the seven major “sins” of memory in his book, “The Seven Sins of Memory.” These seven “sins” are transience, absent-mindedness, blocking, mis-attribution, suggestibility, bias and persistence.

Schacter describes the first three sins as those of omission (the memory is lost). Our memory fades over time, is easily distracted that is why we become absent-minded, and is blocked because we struggle to remember things when we know that we know it in the first place.

The last four sins Schacter describes as the sins of commission (at least some of the memory is there, but it is either wrong or unwanted. Our memory mistakes its source, is influenced by outside factors which triggers false memories, is influence by our current beliefs, and remembers things that we would rather forget.

Although our memory is not perfect, it allows us to adapt and interact in a world full of overwhelming information.

The Importance of Psychology in the Nursing Profession

Despite the coming completely from different disciplines, Psychology has a huge relevance on the nursing practice. Many aspiring nurses have wondered the need fro them to devote hours in studying Psychology. They don’t realize that both are interrelated with each other.

Nurses work in a setting where they’re required to interact with other professionals in an effort to bring the best quality care for their patients. They need to fully understand how other people behave and act in certain situations – this is where Psychology comes into play.

In managing patients with different illnesses, both nurses and psychologists not only work in understanding the physical pain associated, but also change their thought and attitudes to improve well-being.

When assessing a patient’s condition, nurses also consider how patient’s respond  to their illness. Some patients are optimistic and easily cope with their illness, while others have a negative reaction where they become angry and stubborn. Nurses may find it very difficult to handle such patients and need to include them as part of their evaluation of the patient.

With the help of psychology, nurses will know how to interact with their patients based on different factors such as gender and age. For instance, young patients may be more afraid than adults. They may have difficulties in understanding their illness. A nurse can apply his knowledge of child development and psychology and relate to the young patients in a way their apprehensions are alleviated. Thus, psychology can help improve the nurse and patient relationship. As a result, patients can openly interact and communicate with them and inform them about their specific needs.

With psychological knowledge also, nurses are able to get the trust of their patients. This makes the patients more responsive with the instructions they are given. Sometimes, they even take a positive role in their own wellness.

 

 

Learning Psychology and its Benefits

Psychology is basically the study of behavior, mental operations and performance of people. It is also the connection of educational, theoretical and applied science.

Students who studied psychology devotedly were able to understand the compound process of the brain that commands the actions of all human. They also have come to realize that they can make use of psychology in understanding the behaviors, situations and everyday life of all the people.

Why Learning Psychology is important?

Basically, there are a lot of reasons why learning psychology is important. Students will have the chance to experience the following:

The ability to understand own behavior

Studying psychology will allow students to understand their own behavior, emotions and ideas. They will also realize that studying the principles of psychology will allow them to assess, evaluate and provide solutions to all unwanted emotional situations.

Enhanced Communication Expertise

Most famous psychologists have discovered that humans are involved in all kinds of communication. Studying psychology will allow students to understand that communication skills can improve the effectiveness of human interaction.

The ability to understand the behavior of other people

According to Heidelburg of University of Ohio, studying psychology enables students to understand the behavior of other people. They will have the ability to read people’s minds and emotions. Understanding human emotions can be hard, but if students can master the principles of psychology, it will be easier to understand human actions. In addition, it can also improve student’s ability to help others in dealing with their dilemmas.

Better Career Ahead

Students who are so devoted in studying psychology have one thing in common. They want to become the best and effective psychologists. They also know that there is an urgent need for more psychologists since there are increasing numbers of individuals with mental disability. Right after mastering all theories and principles of psychology, students will have the chance to prepare themselves in obtaining a certification or license.

Learning the basics of psychology is important because it can be applied and used to countless life experiences.

Relating Psychology to Health

Psychology is not only for people with mental problems or illnesses. Patients with any health conditions may have undergone psychological difficulties, before or during the condition. The behavioral and social factors cause or lead to almost every reason for dying, illness, and disability and directly cause roughly 1 / 2 of deaths every year. Mental and behavioral health care play a substantial role within the prevention, diagnosis and/or management of the 15 main reasons for dying within the United States. These diseases are cancer, pneumonia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Septicemia, hypertension,  chronic lower respiratory system disease, accidents, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, kidney disease, suicide, chronic liver disease, Parkinson’s Disease as well as assault/homicide.

According to some research, psychological distress might have an adverse effect and is capable of doing modifying various options that come with the immune response system. Around 85% of physician visits are suitable for issues that possess a significant psychological and behavioral component, for example chronic ailments. For instance, studies have proven an association between depression and cancer.

Ideas, attitudes, and feelings can accelerate the start of cardiovascular diseases. This leads to the conclusion that most people are experiencing diseases in relation to their mental and psychological health. People with diabetes are two times as likely as people without diabetes to possess serious psychological distress. Depression is prevalent in roughly 20% of cancer patients and could slow down treatment and recovery. Children and care providers of cancer patients might also experience depression.

Supplying mental and behavioral health services included in a health care model greatly increases access for underserved people. A built-in health care approach helps eliminate stigma in addition to increasing the understanding of the psychosocial facets of health. Psychologists play a vital role in integrated health care by helping people modify their behavior to avoid and get over health problems. People in the United States can be more healthy and efficient when psychology is incorporated into primary health care.

Clinical Psychology

The stressful surroundings of clinical psychology preparation is well conventional. The intellectual and emotional demands it places on most trainees cannot be overstated. Nonetheless, there is mounting evidence suggesting that training may be even more challenging for those who are ethnically and/or racially different from the dominant group.

Experiences of exclusion for such trainees are not uncommon, as a result, it has been posited that many courses may still be failing to meet the needs of BME trainees be it in terms of systematic course inclusion of issues of diversity, the management of overt and concealed experiences of racism and the provision of appropriate support to help BME trainees cope with the supplementary emotional demands which may be placed upon them.

This is the first in a series of posts within which needs to be aimed to connect in a process of reflection upon my experience of difference within training. Hoping to provide some illustrations of some of the ways difference may affect personal behaviors, trainees’ experiences and the training environment.

Although some differences are bound to be reflected within training cohorts, those born and raised outside the UK, those who are not British citizens, those who do not speak English as a first language or are otherwise ethnically, culturally and/or racially different; are likely to find themselves in teams of one within their year group.

Individuals are, to a large extent, products of their life-experiences. It is well recorded that as human beings we tend to have a natural affinity towards other individuals with similar backgrounds. The cultural factors together with the potential non-traditional professional and/or educational pathways into training may have an impact relationally, mean standing out as dissimilar, having to contend with hyper visibility and/or holding different worldviews which may be at odd with many in training.

The normative influences and expectations in relation to white middle class norms and values abound. If one is neither, conforming, ‘fitting in’ and being open about one’s views can be extremely challenging. As an example, as any person, who has stood out for all of the above reasons, my personal perspective into discussions has often been defined as critical, labeled as radical and at times as ‘irrelevant’, an isolating and invalidating experience particularly when there has been no intention to challenge. Often, simply speaking about my experience or that other BME groups would be deemed challenging or create palpable discomfort.