Psychology

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Thank you for clearing that up. I'm taking a basic introduction class where we're going to learn about ourselves (then write a five page paper) and learn about psychology in general and possibly even some of the common disorders. Not that I can't research that on my own...

Irishmic, no prob. I'm sure we all say stuff sometimes that we don't mean to. Although I have no idea what post modernism is, I'd say to start a new topic on it if it's something you'd like to discuss.

Dang, when I was in highschool, I would have opted to fail the class rather than write about myself. I failed the writing profciency test 3 times because of that.

In High School all Seniors had to take a class called Strategy, where the goal was to set goals for post High School life. A lot of people who took it liked it.

By that time, after having to endure so long without a diagnoses, or any assistance, I had totally given up on school, goals, or direction for my life.

I was a regular black out drinker, and started every morning drinking screwdrivers out of a 36oz cup from the convenience store.

I hated that class.
I didn't drop out, but might as well have.
For the final project, a collage of what we wanted out of adult life, the teacher gave me a failing grade and told me that I was obviously disturbed.

What I wanted though I got.
After SAT scores came back, my Dean called me into her office
With my 1480 SAT scores in one hand and my 2.06 GPA in the other
She said "I have no idea what to do with you."
I said, "Good, because I'm under the impression that you never did."
Then I walked out of her office.

I'm glad that parents and schools have the ability to diagnose
children early in life today, and today I am working to be part of the solution
instead of just another statistic of what happens when disabilities go undiagnosed.

what am amazing sentiment, irishmic. it makes me feel quite emotional.

there will always be those (like you and me, and many others on this site) who will "slip through the net". but people like you will make the number of those people fewer and fewer.

i applaud you and your work, irishmic. you are someone who makes a difference.

I have recently re-acquired an interest in Psychology, though the rarefied stuff such as Jung, Lacan, Julia Kristeva etc remains almost incomprehensible. I have got through some of Jung's work but in many respects, it did not make much sense.

I have also become interested in Attachment Theory, though I am not entirely sure if I 'buy the whole package', so to speak. Developmental psychology is interesting too, as is Psychodynamic psychotherapy, though I am inclined to doubt the suitability of the latter for all cases. I was exposed to much of that when younger and it really didn't make much of a difference in my life.

I am not sure whether my interest should go towards clinical or experimental psychology though.

Well, I finally decided I'd love to be a psychologist. Or psychiatrist.

A child psychologist would be nice, because I like helping in schools, but wouldn't want to be a teacher.

Psychology major here! w00t! I plan to go onto grad school to become a therapist. ((mental health professional is the technical term))



I hated behaviorism vehemently before I took two classes about it. Now, I can totally see value in it, from my own perspective.



I loved Abnormal Psych. It was so easy. It felt like on half the tests I just had to list my symptoms.



Reasearch= not anything I have any interest in ever doing. Which is a sort of dumb-sounding thing to say but it's the truth. I want to work with people. I know that I have not only the capacity for this but the aptitude.



1) Well, you have to find out what the problem is (if only on a basic cognitive level) and talking does that. But yes, fix the damn problem after you know what it is!

2) I don't think I'll ever "change the world." But, I do honestly think I can make a difference in a life or two. That's enough.

You're comments were really nice, and appreciated.

Thank you very much.

In just the few days that I have been posting in these forums, I've learned to love WrongPlanet
and feel like its my new Aspie home.

I want to cherish it, nurture it, and help it grow.

Tsk tsk tsk. This is kind of off-topic, but last year for my English final, I had to write several essays about myself and make them into some sort of project. I ended up doing a notebook and had more fun writing the inside of the notebook (filled with quotes, stories I've written and random doodles), but the essays were really bad. For one of them, we had to make a list of things we believed. Some of mine were:

* I believe English class is a prison.
* I believe that there isn’t a point to this assignment and it’s just a conspiracy by English teachers to make us work when we really don’t want to.
* I believe that Orlando Bloom is just a pretty boy who can read.
* I believe that Harry Potter and his friends are minions of Sauron.
* I believe that Elvish should be counted as a foreign language.
and by far the most personal one...
* I believe that God has some sort of plan for our lives, but we often make the mistake of trying to figure them out before He’s ready to tell them to us.
Okay, I know many people will have issues with what I have just said. Most of it is in pure jest, except for the last one.

My point? Even though I survived writing about myself, I still hate it. Thankfully, we will not be reading these papers aloud to the class and the teacher already knows me quite well. I've just learned to take things like this as they come and freak out/withdraw when I am alone and there is no one to bother me about it.

Okay...back to psychology. It seems interesting so far. We've covered basic types of treatment, but haven't gone into much detail with it. It is an interesting situation because everyone else in the class is fairly die-hard NT and I would only feel comfortable letting one or two specific people in the class know about my AS, both of whom I have known and been good friends with for six years thus far. So I figure it's best to keep fairly quiet.

Serissa - that is a great attitude to have . . . you might be able to pull off the sort of jobs that I found too depressing - like when I worked with homeless drug abusers . . .
Actually, I loved the clients . . . it was the rest of the staff . . . but that is more of a social issue . . .

Everyone in my PSYCH class knows I am AS, and none of them paticuarly care.

To them, its just an explaination of why I tend to be the one asking the most questions

I also know I can't trust most of the people in my class. There are also a few people who are in that class and I hardly even know their names, much less know anything about them.

Psychiatrists: doctors for the anatomical brain. Psychiatrists are not necessarily trained in Psychology, but some are and are likely better for it. They subscribe medicine. That's about it.

Psychology: the study of behavior and the mind


TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY:

Biopsychologists: take a comparative and ontogenetic perspective in the experimental analysis of basic psychological processes as they relate to the many ways in which animal species adapt, survive, reproduce and evolve.

Child Psychologists: See Child Clinical Psychologists, Developmental Psychologists, School Psychologists, and Social Worker.

Child Clinical Psychologists: have about the same preparation as clinical psychologists; in addition, they have the responsibility of becoming acquainted with the developmental characteristics of preadolescent.

Clinical Psychologists: are concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disturbances. After graduate preparation in an accredited university or school of professional psychology, supervised postdoctoral experience, and licensure or certification by the state, some clinical psychologists enter independent practice/consulting roles. Others find themselves responsible for a complete range of psychological services in public settings. Their responsibilities range from administering and scoring psychological tests, to engaging in therapy, to supervising the training of graduate students in the delivery of mental health services, to administering a community mental health program. Some clinical psychologists obtain faculty positions in a college or university where they perform research and train graduate students. Others serve as adjunct (or part-time) faculty, while maintaining independent clinical practices. Many serve as consultants. Ph.D. or Psy.D. needed.

Cognitive Psychologists: are concerned with what organisms know and how they come to know it. They study how people perceive objects and events, how they can store past events in memory, how they transform and manipulate knowledge by thinking, and how they analyze their experience to emerge with new and abstract notions.

Community Psychologists: are concerned with the application of concepts, tools and skills from the fields of counseling, guidance and rehabilitation psychology. Community psychologists are trained to counsel, treat and/or refer outpatients and to assist in the development of community resources for their clients.

Counseling Psychologists: are concerned with counseling, teaching, consulting research, and/or administration. In their work, they are particularly concerned with the role of education and work in an individual's functioning, and with the interaction between individuals and the environments in which they live. Typically, counseling psychologists work with normal or moderately maladjusted persons, individually or in groups. This work includes use of traditional counseling interview methods, interest, ability and personality tests, and educational and occupational information. Most counseling psychologists are employed in educational settings and most of those in colleges or universities. A minority are employed in hospitals, (e.g., the VA), community mental health or rehabilitation centers, industry, government, or in private or community counseling agencies.

Developmental Psychologists: are concerned with growth and development from conception through death. All aspects of the animal or human organism (physiological, biological, physical, cognitive, emotional, social, cultural) may be studied.

Educational Psychologists: are concerned with a range of activities from initial design through development and evaluation of both materials and procedures for education and training. Such positions exist in public schools, in the military, in private research and development companies, and in industrial concerns. They may deal with analyzing education and training needs, with developing materials for instruction in various media, with designing the best conditions for instruction, and with evaluating the effectiveness of instructional programs.

Engineering Psychologists: are concerned with designing and using environments and systems with which human beings live and work. Their job is to improve the interaction between people and their environments. They may help design work areas, equipment, and human-machine systems, as well as the training devices, aids, and requirements needed to prepare people to make such systems function. They work in many different settings, such as the aerospace industry, communications and transportation industries, the military, and other governmental, commercial and industrial enterprises.

Experimental Psychologists: a general title applied to a variety of psychologists who are trained in designing and conducting research in specific basic areas like learning, sensation and perception, human performance, and motivation and emotion. A research oriented doctoral degree (Ph.D.) is usually needed.

Health or Medical Psychologists: are concerned with understanding how psychological factors can affect physical health. Some representative issues: how certain attitudes and behaviors may cause heart disease; how the state of physical health affects one's psychological well-being; and how living with cancer can affect one's attitude and behavior. They also study the psychology of how people can better cope with physical disease

Industrial / Organizational Psychologists: are concerned with the relation between individuals and work. They are employed in business and industry, in government, and in colleges and universities, and may perform a variety of jobs. An industrial/organizational psychologist working in industry may study how work is organized; suggest changes to improve the satisfaction of employees, the quality of the organization's services, and productivity; consult with management on the development of effective training programs for employees; design programs for the early identification of management potential; administer career counseling and preretirement counseling programs; develop affirmative action programs; recommend changes in job definition; design a system of performance evaluation. A master's degree in industrial/organizational psychology is a minimum requirement for a position as a psychological associate but a position as a psychologist requires a Ph.D.

Personnel Psychologists: Compared to industrial/organizational psychologists, personnel psychologists focus more specifically on the hiring, assignment, and promotion of employees. Such a psychologist may be involved in the continued development and validation of assessment tools for selection, placement, classification and promotion of employees. Although positions as test administrators and interviewers are available for those with B.A.'s and M.A.'s, a Ph.D. is a general prerequisite for a position as a psychologist.

Psycholinguists: are concerned with discovering the psychological significance of the properties of language, of linguistic organization, the meaning of words, syntax and how children acquire language.

Psychometric (Quantitative) Psychologists: are directly concerned with the measurement of behavior (mostly through the use of tests) and the design of research investigations. Such a psychologist may be analyzing complex sets of data; designing, developing pilot testing, or validating versions of intelligence, personality, or aptitude tests; or deriving new statistics with which to analyze data. The psychometric psychologist is typically well-trained in mathematics, statistics, and in the programming and use of computers.

Psychotherapists: A very broad term. Generally, anyone can call him or herself a "Psychotherapist", but ONLY a person with a Ph.D. in Psychology and a license can use the term "Psychologist". Psychotherapists can include anyone without a Ph.D. who tries to help people deal with their problems. Counselors and Social Workers are psychotherapists, but not Psychologists.

School Psychologists: are concerned with increasing the effectiveness of schools in improving the intellectual, social and emotional development of children. They may also serve as consultants in education for the handicapped, mentally disturbed or mentally ret*d; or in developing special programs in adult education. They typically function in various roles within the school system. They may assist in implementing and evaluating special education programs, may serve as leaders of in-service training programs for teachers, or as consultants to teachers regarding specific teaching or classroom related problems. They may also help to treat children's psychological and educational problems that influence problems in school. They may also administer tests and interpret their results. An M.A. and certification by the State Board of Education are generally required, and a Ph.D. may be required for supervisory positions.

Social Psychologists: study the ways in which the social context affects the behavior of the individual and groups in the real world and the laboratory. Social psychologists focus on topics such as social roles, attitude formation and change, affiliation, interpersonal attraction and interaction, conformity, and group processes.

Social Workers: attempts to meet social needs by providing leadership in the development of social policy and practice in the field of social welfare. Social Workers help advance the professional practice of social work by enhancing the social functioning of individuals, groups, families, and communities. Two subfields exists in the field of Social Welfare, such as specializations in either direct practice, or management concentrations.

PS- Someone should get Neuroman in here since I'd imagine (being a PhD in Psych, himself) he'd know quite a bit more.

If this weren't an Aspie forum I'd use atserisks and an adjective and a noun both acting as a verb to denote an enourmous hug for that.