Objectives of the psychology practicum
The importance of a psychology practicum is to allow the students to apply the theory learned in class into the fields to gain more knowledge, skills, and experience in their area of professionalism. These field activities require the student to gain skills and experience through observation and participation in the activities within the selected agency. The practicum program also helps the students who are willing to further their studies in decision-making on the schools of their choice. This program is beneficial to both the student and the hosting agencies. The students benefit by getting more knowledge from the professionals within the agencies while the agencies benefit by hosting vigorous and students who are interested in learning (inquisitive). As a result, these students influence the activities carried out in their communities which eventually lead to development for the entire country. During the practicum period, the student is required to be in the selected agency for a minimum period of 100 hours for a semester (Keene State College, n.d, p2).
This paper will major on the activities the student participated in during her practicum period. The student chose to carry out her activities in the First Baptist Church of Anaheim which is situated in Anaheim, California. During this period the student volunteered in the church for 100 hours where she acted as the girl’s youth counselor.
Mission, vision, and purpose of First Baptist Church of Anaheim
The First Baptist Church of Anaheim was started in the year 1951 and it has several active ministries like music ministry, knitting club, weekly prayer meetings, weekly bible studies, and Sunday services. This church is one of the Anaheim churches which have good chapels, churches, historical temples, synagogues, Roman Catholic, and religious Anaheim places where one can worship. (Press-Enterprise Company, n.d, par.1). The church has its mission, purpose, and vision well established. The vision of the church was to give the believers spiritual information through leadership training, accepting the stewardship roles and responsibilities given by God (material, persons, spiritual and investigational) to enable the followers of Christ to be leaders who have been called by God as servants. The mission of the church was to give God all the glory through equipping the followers of Christ in the local church to perform the work God had called them to perform. The main core values of the church were; to teach and train the believers in the standards of good servant leadership which would enable them to finish the work God had called them to perform. Secondly, to teach the believers how to hear and recognize God’s Voice in their lives as individuals. Thirdly, to equip the local leadership growth movement which would help them in reaching out to other local churches located near their locality and influences them to enlarge the movement which would glorify God. Finally, to offer the church vision to the entire pastoral team to assist them in leading and developing other leaders in the church (North American Baptist Conference, n.d, par.1).
Activities carried out in the church by the student
The student got interested in the areas of girls after having gone through several class lessons on social and cultural psychology and understanding the importance of the female body as she grows up. Social-cultural psychology deals with daily life that people interact with others. Social-cultural psychology looks into how feelings, behavior, and thoughts are affected by other individuals (Faculty of Social Sciences, n.d, par.1). Therefore, through these classes, the student was in a good position to apply the concept as she interacted with the young girls who explained to her what they were going through and we’re not comfortable sharing them with their parents. Since these young girls were from different cultural backgrounds, through the theory of cultural psychology the student was in a position to counsel the girls accordingly depending on what their culture was. The most important thing during counseling was to identify the girl’s tradition, culture, and social practices since all these affected the consciousness and behavior of the individuals.
Since these girls were in their adolescent stage, most of them were experiencing new changes in their daily growth and development. As the girls’ counselor, the student used to meet the girls every week on Wednesday from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. The student devoted herself such that she even ended up knowing the girls’ parents. During these periods the student also assisted the young girls on how to develop their Christian relationship with God and becoming intimate with Christ by reading the bible and having personal prayer times at their own time. Through this service, the student developed a cross relationship with girls and their parents. This was a good ground for the student to counseling the girls in a manner that could make them feel safe and confident to share with their mothers want they were going through as they grew. The student succeeded in convincing the girls to confide with their parents since she had undergone a course on counseling theories which assisted her during the counseling process.
The student was able to deal with the girls effectively because she had attended classes on group dynamics. The number of the girls the student was counseling was quite big and in any group, there must be group dynamics. Every group undergoes the following stages as it exists; forming (the group comes together with common objectives), storming (the group experience great strain due to competition for power and status), norming (the group sets agreement on rules and principles), and performing stage (the group matures up to a level where they can co-exist as a team) (Brian MAC, 1997, par.1). During the time of interaction with the girls, the lesson on group dynamics assisted the student in ensuring the group existed despite the stage it went through. The concept the student had in mind as she tried to run the group was in any group the people have to interact, influence one another, and develop dynamics that could separate them from each other.
Importance of the field practicum to the student
The field practicum was of benefit to the student because she gained experience in the field of counseling and she is now well equipped to counsel young girls especially those who fear to share with their parents what they are going through as they grow. In addition, through counseling the girls, she was had a good opportunity to develop her leadership skills. This is one of the areas where the student was weak before and with the help of the church pastor and the elders, she became strong in that area. The student’s faith was also strengthened since she was also involved in the program of helping the teenage girls develop a Christian walk with God. The field practicum assisted the student in developing her leadership skills, applying theories learned in class into the real world, and strengthening the student’s faith.
Reference
Brian MAC, (2007). Group development. 2009. Web.
Faculty of Social Sciences, (n.d). Social and Cultural Psychology. 2009. Web.
Keene State College, (n.d). Practicum in Psychology. 2009. Web.
North American Baptist Conference, (n.d). Mission, Vision & Purpose. 2009. Web.
Press-Enterprise Company, (n.d). First Southern Baptist Church of Anaheim. 2009. Web.