Ed Psych Group Therapy

If there is one thing I have learned during my life it is this: things always change. So it should come as no surprise that my quest for obtaining the MFCC license went directly in accordance with a full swing course of change.

The educational psychology program at the school I was attending was in flux. There was a never ending stream of professors coming and going, and the ones who were tenured were bickering with eachother like partisan polititians. The bound group to which I was a part, changed as I became closer with some of the students, and over time our large group of about forty, whittled down to a smaller group of eight - due to our required weekly supervision sessions. We shared together, cried together, studied together, practiced together, and even grieved together when we lost one of our participants unexpectedly due to a car crash. It was like being part of a giant therapy group for two solid years.

I had learned about marital problems, sexual orientation, racism, sexism, chemical dependence, co-dependence, counseling theory, psychological theory, theoretical approaches, and more. All of this learning took place in a classroom with our desks arranged in a large circle where, after reading chapters upon chapters of a given subject, we would discus our thoughts and impressions about it. There was always a time consuming major exam at the end. I surmised these were to help us with test anxiety, and to get us prepared for the licensing exams that loomed out there like the finishing tape of a marathon.

There was a large emphasis placed on ethics in the counseling program. There was not only an entire class about ethics, it was also discussed in each and every course. I believe that the emphasis on ethics changed my life more than anything else. After every counseling session, when evaluating courses, whenever I would make a decision, even when deciding how parent, or communicate with my ex, I would ask myself: What was the ethical path? It was drilled into me to always, always, always to make the ethical, and lawful, choice.

By the time I had completed the graduate requirements, I was a completely different person. I was an excellent listener and collaborator. I was emotionally stable, confident, and secure with who I was. The decisions I made were well thought out, and ethical almost by nature, not out of guilt or shame, but because it felt right. I felt grounded in a way that is difficult to put into words. I was starting to feel comfortable flowing with change instead of fighting against it. I was less afraid of most things.