Colleen Thomas
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My Internship at CPC Behavioral Health Care
CPC Behavioral Healthcare is an Adult Partial Care Program located in Aberdeen, NJ. It is a non-profit organization that helps clients who were recently hospitalized for psychiatric reasons and need to attend a rehabilitation program. CPC’s main goal is to help clients with mental illness become functioning members of their communities. When clients first arrive, they make a plan with their case managers where they set goals for their path to recovery. All clients have an Axis I disorder. Most clients have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Other clients have schizoaffective disorder or major depressive disorder. Some clients have a comorbid diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence. This is where I applied my knowledge from abnormal psychology. I felt more comfortable knowing about the disorders before beginning my internship.
Each client attends group therapy that will help them in their recovery. We have various groups that clients can attend. Clients work with their case manager to see which group is appropriate for them. As an intern I assisted clinicians in running group therapy. I was able to talk to clients, ask questions, and add insight where I saw fit. I ran a wellness self-management where lower functioning clients learned goal-setting strategies and overall wellness care, including physical and mental wellness. I also ran stress management where clients were taught coping skills. I also ran a lunch-time group. When clients were finished eating they could attend an activity based group, such as mine, which was current events. I tried to make it as fun as possible so I created current event trivia questions. It is important for clients to attend this group because those with severe mental illness tend to isolate themselves and this helped them socialize with other patients and keep them connected to what was happening in the world.
I was able to learn so much about the role of a clinician in this setting. I experienced group therapy first hand as an undergraduate, which not many students have a chance to do. At CPC we conduct group therapy in two hour sessions. The first half is a check-in with clients. Depending on which group it was, the check-in related to the content of the lesson for the day, a rating of stress or anger, or simply how their weekend was. The second hour was devoted to psycho-education. This is where clients were taught those coping skills and goal-setting strategies. Group therapy also offers a great support system for clients. They are able to provide each other with support, validation and advice.
I really enjoyed working with clients in a therapy setting. Even though client progress is slow, I was able to see it in some clients. For example, when I started, there was one client with whom I developed a good rapport and he began asking for my help in completing worksheets. This was helpful to the client’s recovery and it was rewarding for me because I made him feel more comfortable and felt like I made a positive difference. I also learned the importance of boundaries as a professional in this setting. We help clients as trained professionals, not as friends, which clients sometimes don’t realize. I was able to discuss strategies with clients to increase their level of comfort in interpersonal relationships with other people.
I also learned it is important for clients to work with an interdisciplinary team. This can be formed of various people, but at CPC it consists of Master’s level social workers, licensed professional counselors, psychiatrists, nurses, and support staff who help clients find housing and employment. Each person of this team is important in helping clients in their recovery. They need someone to prescribe medication if they take it, someone for therapy, and someone to help them with their lives outside of the program.
For my "little piece" project I chose to create a brochure about smoking cessation for the clients. Many clients are actively trying to quit smoking and some really want to begin the process. My brochure included a START plan and tips to manage cravings in order to succeed. I made stress balls for the clients to use during group breaks to replace the tactile sensation of a cigarette instead of going outside to socialize and smoke. I also made a lesson plan about healthy and unhealthy paths toward smoking cessation that I used in my stress management group.
I chose CPC because I wanted to pursue clinical psychology in graduate school. However now I realize that I don’t want to work with people with severe mental illness. Overall, it was a great experience because I was able to see what I do not want to do in the future, which is equally important as knowing what I do want to do.
CPC Behavioral Healthcare is an Adult Partial Care Program located in Aberdeen, NJ. It is a non-profit organization that helps clients who were recently hospitalized for psychiatric reasons and need to attend a rehabilitation program. CPC’s main goal is to help clients with mental illness become functioning members of their communities. When clients first arrive, they make a plan with their case managers where they set goals for their path to recovery. All clients have an Axis I disorder. Most clients have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Other clients have schizoaffective disorder or major depressive disorder. Some clients have a comorbid diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence. This is where I applied my knowledge from abnormal psychology. I felt more comfortable knowing about the disorders before beginning my internship.
Each client attends group therapy that will help them in their recovery. We have various groups that clients can attend. Clients work with their case manager to see which group is appropriate for them. As an intern I assisted clinicians in running group therapy. I was able to talk to clients, ask questions, and add insight where I saw fit. I ran a wellness self-management where lower functioning clients learned goal-setting strategies and overall wellness care, including physical and mental wellness. I also ran stress management where clients were taught coping skills. I also ran a lunch-time group. When clients were finished eating they could attend an activity based group, such as mine, which was current events. I tried to make it as fun as possible so I created current event trivia questions. It is important for clients to attend this group because those with severe mental illness tend to isolate themselves and this helped them socialize with other patients and keep them connected to what was happening in the world.
I was able to learn so much about the role of a clinician in this setting. I experienced group therapy first hand as an undergraduate, which not many students have a chance to do. At CPC we conduct group therapy in two hour sessions. The first half is a check-in with clients. Depending on which group it was, the check-in related to the content of the lesson for the day, a rating of stress or anger, or simply how their weekend was. The second hour was devoted to psycho-education. This is where clients were taught those coping skills and goal-setting strategies. Group therapy also offers a great support system for clients. They are able to provide each other with support, validation and advice.
I really enjoyed working with clients in a therapy setting. Even though client progress is slow, I was able to see it in some clients. For example, when I started, there was one client with whom I developed a good rapport and he began asking for my help in completing worksheets. This was helpful to the client’s recovery and it was rewarding for me because I made him feel more comfortable and felt like I made a positive difference. I also learned the importance of boundaries as a professional in this setting. We help clients as trained professionals, not as friends, which clients sometimes don’t realize. I was able to discuss strategies with clients to increase their level of comfort in interpersonal relationships with other people.
I also learned it is important for clients to work with an interdisciplinary team. This can be formed of various people, but at CPC it consists of Master’s level social workers, licensed professional counselors, psychiatrists, nurses, and support staff who help clients find housing and employment. Each person of this team is important in helping clients in their recovery. They need someone to prescribe medication if they take it, someone for therapy, and someone to help them with their lives outside of the program.
For my "little piece" project I chose to create a brochure about smoking cessation for the clients. Many clients are actively trying to quit smoking and some really want to begin the process. My brochure included a START plan and tips to manage cravings in order to succeed. I made stress balls for the clients to use during group breaks to replace the tactile sensation of a cigarette instead of going outside to socialize and smoke. I also made a lesson plan about healthy and unhealthy paths toward smoking cessation that I used in my stress management group.
I chose CPC because I wanted to pursue clinical psychology in graduate school. However now I realize that I don’t want to work with people with severe mental illness. Overall, it was a great experience because I was able to see what I do not want to do in the future, which is equally important as knowing what I do want to do.