For about ten years, I have worked as a counselor and vocational evaluator in different capacities in various institutions. I have always been interested in understanding how people think, perceive certain situations, and how these aspects influence how they make decisions. In a span of about ten years, I have encountered diverse situations; some clients have been cooperative, while some have presented complex challenges. One of the areas I find great pleasure to work in is helping young people choose their careers wisely based on their strengths and weaknesses. However, I have always experienced challenges especially when I am presented with cases of people with mental conditions and expected to provide career advice. This is the reason I have developed a compulsion to pursue further education, particularly to conduct research relating to assessment of client challenges, and how to work with clients presenting with severe mental illness and cognitive assessment.
In 2015, while working at ResCare as an intellectual disabilities professional, I was presented with a case of a teenager, who was extremely book smart but was very violent. He tried to avoid everyone, and when pestered too much, he would become violent. As a counselor, I tried to help the young man, but it was barely a week when it was reported that the young man had committed suicide. I later learnt that the teenager had previously been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, which probably explained his aggressive behavior. Surprisingly, the teenager had been raised in a well-off family in a lush neighborhood. However, the family reported that his paternal grandfather had also committed suicide several years ago. This seemed to be a genetic problem. Another case I recently experienced concerned a 60-year-old who was moody and bitter that he still had not achieved his financial goals and felt he had no more time to live. When I reminisce over such challenges, I feel the urge to acquire more knowledge not only to understand people better but to help solve complex challenges.
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Precisely, my research goals include learning how to work with clients presenting with severe mental and cognitive challenges, and how to correctly assess these challenges. Concerning these aspects, the biggest challenge when presented with individuals with mental challenges is having them speak or communicate. Most of the clients with mental problems are either violent, or do not want to speak at all. Therefore, if as a counselor I cannot communicate with the client, I will most likely conduct an inaccurate assessment. Sometimes relying on clients’ family members or close friends could lead to inaccuracies because of the risk of being given wrong information. For such reasons, I want to learn more how I can understand clients better, overcome communication challenges, and consequently conduct objective assessments. Additionally, I would like to learn about genetic and cognitive factors and how they influence individual behavior. Often, there are assumptions that people’s behaviors are mainly influenced by the environment, and that is not always the case.
I would like to work with Dr. Jeffrey Bedwell, primarily because of his prolific knowledge in such areas as cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, social cognition, theory of the mind, schizophrenia, and event related potentials. Since I mainly guide people to choose careers and make important life decisions, I would like to learn how people think and process information. On the same note, I would also like to understand different personalities better. Lastly, I wish to learn more about neuropsychology of people presenting with various mental and cognitive challenges, and as a result, how they can overcome them and choose careers best suited for them. Overall, I believe through research, I will learn how to handle clients with various challenges better.
