Select one of the three careers you identified and discussed in M1 Assignment 2 and conduct a job search for actual openings in your area.

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Conducting a Job Search

An undergraduate psychology degree provides you with some flexibility when selecting a career. The knowledge of how people think, develop, and behave, as well as the interpersonal skills gained from a BA in psychology may lead to work in the field, but also prepares you well for careers in the fields of public service, marketing, or management, among others. Because most professional careers in psychology require further education, those who do not wish to pursue graduate degrees may need to broaden the scope of careers they are willing to consider.

In M1 Assignment 2, you explored your career interests and identified three careers that seemed best suited for you. In this assignment, you will conduct a mock job search and report your findings using the “Job Search Data Bank” form.

Mock Job Search

Select one of the three careers you identified and discussed in M1 Assignment 2 and conduct a job search for actual openings in your area. If you are willing to eventually relocate, you may choose openings elsewhere as well. You may choose to use at least one source or all of the following sources to find available positions in your chosen career of interest:

  • Local newspaper ads (online or printed editions)
  • Networking websites such as LinkedIn
  • Networking with colleagues, peers, or other contacts
  • Your state employment office
  • Listings on professional organizations’ websites

Refer to the Job Resources document to find additional online sources relating to online job searches.

Job Search Data Bank

Download and review a copy of the Job Search Data Bank template. Provide the results of the mock job search you completed for this assignment by filling out the table in the template.

  • Begin by summarizing your career interests. Briefly describe what you concluded from Module 1 about the types of positions best suited to your career interests. For example, if you are most interested in a career as a psychologist, would you prefer to pursue a position in a clinic, a private practice, or a nonprofit organization? Would you prefer to specialize in working with children? Do you hope to have a research or teaching position instead?
  • List at least four positions you found during your job search. These four positions should match the interests you identified in Module 1.
    • Describe each position fully, providing as much of the available information as possible from the ads. Copy the ads and paste them into the table.
  • For each identified job opening, indicate the likelihood of your being eligible for the position upon graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree.
    • If you would be ineligible, specify what additional training or education you would require to qualify for the position.
    • Indicate whether you are willing to pursue that additional training or education.
    • Describe the amount of time, the cost, and other resources you think you would need to invest to become qualified.
  • Put the information in your own words. Place quotation marks around the portions you have quoted from the ads. Cite your sources using APA style in-text citations and a reference list in APA style below your table in the “Job Search Data Bank” template provided.

 

M1 Assignment 2: Discussion

Patricia Vela posted May 28, 2018 2:18 PM SubscribedPrevious Next This page automatically marks posts as read as you scroll.Adjust automatic marking as read setting

The results from the six interest profiles were as follows:

  1. Realistic 19
  2. Investigative 30
  3. Artistic 15
  4. Social 30
  5. Enterprising 37
  6. Convectional 36

I have an interest of enterprising jobs and this may include the selling of new merchandise or also the development of new products for use by the public. I believe that enterprising jobs are very profitable, in this case there is no fixed salary and the salary mainly depends on the product being sold. Moreover, there are no special skills needed or any specific knowledge. However, one should be able to produce goods or services that reflect a specific market. Additionally, I also find social work interesting since one can be able to work with different people and also one can be able to work under different situations. Social works requires one to be able to interact with people and be willing to work on different aspects; additionally, one is also required to have a degree from on social courses from the university. The expected payment depends on type of the type of project and thus the wages are not defined specifically(Mynextmove.org. 2018).  There are several questions that I have concerning the two job profiles that I have an interest on:

  1. Are social jobs rewarding, that is do they fetch a lot of income?
  2. What is the future of enterprising?

References

Mynextmove.org. (2018). O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move. [online] Available at:

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Assignment Instructions

First, select a newer scholarly journal article (no older than 2015) relevant to the course regarding the psychological impact of a Weapon of Mass Destruction attack on the population.  Then conduct an article review of that article. It must be related to the course or course materials. The intent is for students to do some external research away from the provided references and find an Article in the Library. Students should search the library’s online databases, such as ProQuest, EbscoHost, and others, to find scholarly or peer-reviewed articles.

Additionally, the review of the journal article is an evaluation of the article’s strengths, weaknesses, and validity. It is used to inform of the article’s value through your explanation, interpretation, and analysis. As you do this, ask the major questions that are central to the review process:

1. What is the purpose of this article?

2. Why is it important to investigate or examine the subject of the article?

3. How are the authors carrying out the task? Are their methods and comments appropriate and adequate to the task?

4. What do they claim to have found out? Are the findings clearly stated?

5. How does this advance knowledge in the field?

Hint: These would make really good section titles for your paper.

Writing Guidance:

  • The paper should be no less than 5 pages for the body of your work, double spaced (cover and reference pages are required – note that they are not factored into your page count).
  • Appropriate writing requirements using APA style formatted citations and compiling a complete reference list in accordance with the APA guidance are part of the requirement.
  • Use scholarly or other relevant sources. Your article selection will be part of the grade.
  • No abstract is required.
  • Save your work as a Microsoft Word document entitled ‘YourLastNamewk#.doc’ (i.e., Smith1.doc) and upload this document as your assignment.

Your work should consist of:

  • Introduction (this will have a well-defined purpose statement in your intro paragraph that provides guidance to the reader about what you are going to cover in your paper)
  • Body (feel free to use sub-headings if necessary)
  • Conclusion (this wraps up the key points of your work and brings your paper to a logical conclusion)

STYLE AND CONVENTION:

  • All written submissions should be submitted in a font and page set-up that is readable and neat. Students will follow the APA 6 Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework.
  • Additionally, the attached rubric will be used to grade your papers.
  • Typewritten in double-spaced format.
  • Times New Roman styles in 12-point font.
  • Page margins Top, Bottom, Left Side and Right Side = 1 inch, with reasonable accommodation being made for special situations and online submission variances.
  • Complete an appropriate page header with page number for each page.
  • Create an appropriate title page.
  • Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize: books, peer reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc.
  • The paper need to be a minimum of 5 complete pages for the body of your work (not including the title and works cited pages in the page count). Points will be deducted if the minimum page requirement is not met accordingly.

Refer to the Counselor Dispositions. Which of these dispositions will you incorporate into the counseling relationship and how?

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Elements of a Successful Therapeutic Relationship (Obj. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4)

The textbook and the readings for this first topic begin to describe some of the key elements for a successful therapeutic relationship.

Write a 1,200-1,500-word essay that describes the characteristics and roles you hope to embody as a counselor and the counselor dispositions that you want to bring with you. You may write in the first person for this assignment. Include the following in your paper:

  1. Your role as the therapist in the counseling process within community and private mental health systems
  2. Refer to the Counselor Dispositions. Which of these dispositions will you incorporate into the counseling relationship and how?
  3. Counseling skills you plan to practice for building rapport with clients
  4. Strategies to advocate for persons with mental health issues

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.

This assignment meets the following CACREP Standards:

2.F.5.f. Counselor characteristics and behaviors that influence the counseling process.

2.F.5.g. Essential interviewing, counseling, and case conceptualization skills.

5.C.3.d. Strategies for interfacing with integrated behavioral health care professionals.

5.C.3.e. Strategies to advocate for persons with mental health issues.

Explain how a forensic psychology professional might use the results of the study in a court setting.

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Forensic mental health evaluations are a routine part of court proceedings in criminal cases. The courts rely on these examinations to make determinations about competency, sentencing, treatment, and rehabilitation. Forensic professionals need to be able to accurately classify and diagnose mental health disorders so that the court can rely on their recommendations. Gowensmith, Sessarego, McKee, Horkott, MacLean, and McCallum (2017) examined the issue of diagnostic field reliability in these pretrial evaluations. They define diagnostic reliability as “the measure of how accurate symptoms and test results can be in the identification of disease,” (Gowensmith et al., 2017, p. 692). Court outcomes can have severe implications for defendants and communities; thus, diagnoses need to be accurate so that the appropriate treatment recommendations and prognoses can be effectively communicated. Gowensmith et al. (2017) discussed that the literature on field reliability, or the reliability of diagnoses made in real practice, is sparse. They noted that the diagnostic field reliability rates in forensic mental health assessments (FMHAs) are unknown, yet critical in that competency to stand trial and legal insanity cases depend upon these evaluations and accurate diagnoses that reflect competency or sanity versus insanity.

Gowensmith et al. (2017) reviewed 240 felony cases in the state of Hawaii, where it is required that three independent forensic evaluators assess the defendant. A total of 720 reports were analyzed for rates of agreement or disagreement on diagnoses. The researchers found that out of the 240 cases, 44 (18.3%) had total agreement amongst the evaluators across all diagnostic categories (Gowensmith et al., 2017). The percentage is much higher than chance but still considered low. Similarly put, the evaluators agreed on a defendant’s diagnoses fewer than one in five cases.

Explain the parts of this study that you believe might be important for a forensic psychology professional working in a court setting.

Several parts of this study can be considered vital for a forensic professional in a court setting. For instance, the researchers found that the timing of the evaluation was correlated with how much or little evaluators agreed on a diagnosis. The earlier the evaluation was conducted from the time of arrest, the higher the rate of disagreement. The researchers concluded that completing an assessment too early may affect outcomes across diagnostic categories if the defendant is still under the influence of drugs or other substances. Allowing time to pass and the defendant to be sober from substances and for medication to take effect, appeared to lead to more agreement among evaluators as symptoms were less likely to be correlated with substance use (Gowensmith et al., 2017). Second, the researchers noted that psychotic and substance-related disorders are the most relevant diagnostic categories in insanity evaluations; therefore, it is critical for these diagnoses to be accurate. The researchers found that at times, it is difficult for evaluators to tease apart the two, but it is important to remember that the difference between a “free-standing” psychotic disorder and a substance-induced psychotic disorder is substantial (Gowensmith et al., 2017). Differing opinions on these diagnoses can have serious consequences for a defendant.

Explain how a forensic psychology professional might use the results of the study in a court setting.

Forensic professionals have an essential role in helping the court make informed decisions. Dr. Walters explains that this role includes making psychological ideas and principles understood to the court so that legal decisions can be made (Laureate Education, 2009). Psychological research needs to be translated for the court to inform best practices. Dr. Walters emphasizes that recommendations in evaluations need to be guided by research that is empirically based, otherwise, conclusions that are drawn could be misleading or erroneous. In the current study, the results are helpful for forensic professionals to understand the value of accurate diagnostic processes and that specific factors make for better diagnostic field reliability. For example, Gowensmith et al. (2017) found that the evaluators disagreed most often on personality disorder diagnoses. This finding is important to take into consideration, and perhaps in practice, it means spending more time on a determination in this category and seeking more information via collateral contacts, as personality disorder symptoms can be more subjective. Next, the researchers suggested that forensic practitioners should obtain more continuing education on diagnostic formulation, especially in preparing evaluations for the court that have far-reaching implications (Gowensmith et al., 2017). Lastly, quality improvement systems can help monitor diagnostic field reliability, thus ensuring higher reliability and validity of forensic mental health evaluations. In a court setting, forensic professionals are called upon to give expert, diagnostically sound, and empirically based opinions.

References

Gowensmith, W. N., Sessarego, S. N., McKee, M. K., Horkott, S., MacLean, N., & McCallum, K. E. (2017). Diagnostic field reliability in forensic mental health evaluations. Psychological Assessment, 29(6), 692–700. doi: 10.1037/pas0000425

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Understanding forensic psychology research: Application of psychological research – Court settings. Baltimore: Author.