Introduction to Continuing Education

Graduate school is a demanding and challenging time in the lives of most students. Of course, it is also filled with the rewards of expanding your knowledge on a subject of personal and professional importance to you, finding friends and mentors within your graduate program, and accomplishing great things in your area of study. Still, many students have some practical concern when it comes to graduate school. How you will balance your real-life responsibility such as work, family, and relationships is a major concern for most prospective graduate degree candidates.

As a graduate student, in many cases, your real life is put on hold and you will be immersed in a world of academia. The library will become your second home, and you’ll see more of your classmates and professors than you will of your friends and loved ones. Though this life can be tough, it is also rewarding. Also, keep in mind that graduate school is only a temporary high-stress period in your life. While it may seem like you’ll be working on your degree forever, time will fly.

Many students wonder how to balance work with school. In many cases, students prefer not to hold a job while in graduate school so that they can better take on the demands of their program. If a job is a financial necessity for you, as it is for many students, you’ll have little choice. It is recommended, however, that you seek out on-campus job opportunities as well as teaching and research assistantships. You will be paid to work on campus and, in many cases, in areas pertaining to your major.

What about maintaining personal relationships during grad school? For many students, making time for friends outside of their studies is tough. After all, you’ll be busy with your research, preparing for your courses, and other school-related duties. Also, you’ll be spending time with people who have a common professional interest. You’ll want to make the most of your social opportunities.

Friends and loved ones outside of your degree program are important, however. Likely, they’ll understand the pressures that you are under as a grad student. Make an effort to keep in touch, even if just by phone. You’ll want your friends to know that school is a temporary demand placed on your life and that their support matters to you.

What about your hobbies and interests? For many students, their area of study takes the place of hobbies. You shouldn’t necessarily give up a pastime that you enjoy, however. Taking the time to unwind and do something that interests you will keep you from burning out in grad school.

Finally, always keep your health and fitness a priority during grad school. Many students let their personal health slide, choosing an unhealthy diet and failing to get the exercise they need. You’ll be better equipped to handle the demands of school if you take care of your body.

Last year I wrote an entry with the same title here that focused on my disdain for New Year’s resolutions and preference for New Year’s goals instead. It is often said that goals are simply dreams with a timeline. I have used “S.M.A.R.T” goals with my clients for a number of years to great success in a majority of their cases.

Some of you may already be familiar with “S.M.A.R.T” goals, but for those reading this that are not, here is a brief summary of what they entail:

S is for specific. Let’s say you want to become a better free throw shooter next season. M is for measurable. I’m going to shoot 100 extra free throws and visualize shooting another 100 everyday. A is for achievable. This means is it under your control? In this case it is, so we’ll move on. R is for realistic. This means if you follow the plan is it likely to provide the results you want. T is for time-bound. In this case it would be the date that the following season begins. Every goal needs a completion date.

Now that I have given you a structure for your New Year’s goal, I am going to address two of the most common reasons people give when failing to reach their New Year’s goals/resolutions.

The first is that they lacked enough willpower to resist falling back into the bad habits they wanted to eliminate. People often talk about willpower as though they are born with a finite amount of it. I hear them say that some people have a lot of it and some don’t have much at all. The truth is that willpower comes directly from learned behaviors. So anyone can learn to have an enviable amount of willpower. As you learn new ways of coping (and turn them into habits) your willpower will increase exponentially.

The second excuse I hear is that they lacked enough motivation to take them to the end of their goal. More likely, what they viewed as a lack of motivation, was blindness to habits they have that got in their way. There are usually between five and ten different sources (social, situational and environmental to name a few) that are reinforcing the bad habits they fail to see.

Since we are blind to them, we never challenge them. This makes us attribute our failure to our lack of motivation or effort, when in fact it was because we were only attacking at most a fourth of the issues involved. Meanwhile the other three-fourths were running all over us unopposed. Now imagine trying to win a basketball game by guarding just one player on the opposing team and letting the other four run around unopposed. Not hard to figure out who wins that game is it?

This is one reason most diets fail. For example, people who go on diets generally eat less and exercise more, which will definitely work. The problem lies in that they are only attacking those two elements, while they’re blind to the underlying reasons that cause them to overeat and not exercise in the first place (and sadly these are not going to disappear without a fight). It’s also well known that people take on the traits of those around them, so if you are dieting in the midst of a bunch of people who do not exercise and like to eat, your likelihood of succeeding drops exponentially.

One final point, that is the key to success in anything: You must acknowledge and accept that you are going to have setbacks, and you cannot ever take them personally. Setbacks are part of the process. It’s unrealistic to expect a straight line to success. I often tell my clients that ‘setbacks are our friends’ because by going through them we learn valuable lessons that give us the skills we never would have had otherwise, that will help us in the future.

Once you have your S.M.A.R.T goal, you are equipped with a plan of action to help lead you to its fruition. Author F.M. Knowles once said “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.” So why don’t you abandon your New Year’s resolutions this year and replace them with S.M.A.R.T goals.

Graduate Degree in Psychology

If you’ve earned your graduate degree in psychology, you’re probably aware that you now have access to more employment opportunities than you did with just a bachelor’s degree. Figuring out where these jobs are can be another issue. Fortunately, with a little searching, you’ll discover the wide range of ways that your degree can be applied to the work world.

Career for Advanced Psychology Degrees

Within the field of mental health itself there are various ways for you to reach out and counsel people in need. One of these jobs is that of a clinical psychologist. In this position you are responsible for evaluating a patient and figuring out what is causing them to suffer mentally or emotionally. Once you’ve made a diagnosis, you will be able to offer treatment to a patient.

It may not be apparent at first what the difference between a clinical psychologist and a counselor is, but after looking a little closer you will see that a counselor helps someone overcome psychological issues that impact their life on a daily basis. You will use your educational background to gauge the best support and advice to offer people in this situation, as well as steps they can take towards their own wellness.

You can even use your advanced degree in psychology to become a social worker. Choosing to go this route, you will likely find yourself working for any number of agencies that have been established to reach out to individuals who are in need. This puts you in a position to provide help to people who might not be able to help themselves.

Working in an educational setting is a career choice that provides several opportunities for someone who has a background in psychology. If you choose to work as a counselor or school psychologist in an educational environment, you will be providing assistance to students in a variety of ways. A child may need emotional support and help coping with issues at home, or he or she may need academic guidance. The tasks a professional in this position is responsible for are varied.

The government also has a need for people who have master’s or doctorate degrees in psychology. Working for a government agency could mean performing the job of a rehabilitation counselor, among many other potential job options. Professionals are needed in hospitals, correctional facilities, and so on. You may even be responsible to conduct research for a government agency if you seek employment in this area.

Choosing the Right Job for You

Figuring out which field you want to go into is important to ensure your satisfaction with your career. You may want to take some time to reflect on what your career goals are and what you want to get out of and put into your occupation. There are many ways to figure this out such as taking a fun online test that can help you narrow down your interests.