Requirements Write a 2–3 page blog post about your decision to start this program in psychology. In your blog post, complete the following: • • • • • • • • • Identify the area of psychology you are most interested in studying and explain why that area is important to you. Explain the importance of research to the area of psychology you are interested in. How does this research help us understand human behavior? How can research findings help solve problems in psychology? Explain the importance of valid, credible sources to the area of psychology you are interested in. How can you determine that a source has scholarly information? Explain why ethical principles are important in the area of psychology you are interested in. Which ethical principles do you think are the most important? Explain how completing this program will help you to improve your critical thinking and decision making skills. For this first assessment, you need to include a title page and a reference page. APA citation style is the writing style for psychology, so be sure you format your assessment following APA guidelines. This will give you practice with the style if you are not already familiar with it. Additional Requirements • • • • • • Include a title page and reference page. Number of pages: 2–3. At least one current, scholarly or professional resource. APA format. Times New Roman font, 12 pt. Double-spaced. Running head: TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE Towards a Psychology Perspective Rahul Chidambaran Capella University Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. 1 TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 2 The Importance of Research, Ethical Principles, and Critical Thinking in Counseling Psychology Counseling Psychology: An Interesting Field of Study Psychology is a field of study that aims to understand how people learn, interpret events, and make decisions through scientific research (American Psychological Association [APA], 2016a). Counseling psychology, a field within psychology, focuses on aiding personal and interpersonal functioning throughout life. As a counseling psychologist, I would be able to get closely involved with people who need help and use my knowledge and skills to help them improve their well-being, reduce distress, and fight crises. I am extremely passionate and enthusiastic about helping those in need of emotional and psychological support. Therefore, counseling psychology would be a suitable field within psychology for me to pursue. From a broader perspective, counseling psychologists play a crucial role in society because they help individuals, families, communities, and organizations address their emotional, social, professional, and health concerns (APA, 2016b). Thus, pursuing a degree in this area of specialization would not only help realize my personal goals, but also help fulfill my duties toward the larger community. The Importance of Research in Counseling Psychology Psychology and counseling, like any other field of science, require using theories and research to better understand the problems that people might be facing. Counselors must be capable of describing a behavior and making predictions about future behaviors. Psychologists must ask questions, which may require intense research to answer them. Research helps in solving problems by providing research-based knowledge to the problems. The research-based Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [SD1]: Rahul, Very nice job looking at how a degree in counseling would help others. I applaud you for working toward your personal goals and wanting to fulfill your duty to a larger community. I did not see a description of why helping others in this area is important. Why is helping others in need of counseling important? TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 3 knowledge gives insight to psychologists about the needs and coping strategies, language, and culture of individuals that affects their behavior, which helps in finding a solution to a psychological problem (Smedslund & Ross, 2014). Research in counselling also helps in solving problems by telling what type of therapy is suitable for a particular problem, which would help therapists adapt a definite technique for that problem. Psychologists can also provide evidencebased solutions to problems by following research literature derived from research evidence on various psychological problems (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, n.d.). To understand how research helps understand human behavior and solve problems in psychology, it is important to consider how different research methods work together to provide a complete picture. In counseling, knowing how people experience their external and internal environments is necessary to understand their behavior. This is qualitative research and usually does not lend itself to numbers. To get a complete picture, however, conducting surveys and experiments is important to evaluate how many people share the same kind of behaviors or experiences. This is quantitative research and requires numbers and statistics. Action research, on the other hand, deals with the process of change and what stimulates it. This approach to research enables changes in therapy to further the knowledge of psychologists, thereby empowering their ability to help their clients. To better understand clients, all these research methods are vital for counselors. However, research and the actions or decisions based on it are valuable only when research is derived from credible and valid sources (Marks, Murray, Evans, & Estacio, 2015). The Importance of Valid and Credible Sources in Counseling Psychology Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [SD2]: Rahul, Outstanding look at the importance of research in psychology. I am impressed that you talked about action research, that’s wonderful. You started off this section indicating that research is important to solve problems, and did a wonderful job looking at how it does. TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 4 Using credible sources of information is important for research, scientific writing, and therapy in this area of psychology as inaccurate findings and actions can lead to serious consequences. Peer-reviewed journals can be considered credible because they are evaluated and ascertained by professionals, scholars, and experts. Another useful way to determine credibility is the frequency with how often a source is cited. A regularly cited journal article can be considered a credible resource because of its usefulness to other authors. Validity can be evaluated by how old the resource is. Some theories and arguments are subject to change over time upon further research. Therefore, the more recent a credible resource is, the greater is its validity (Columbia College, n.d.). Along with using valid and credible sources to support their diagnosis and decisions relating to their clients, psychologists must be mindful of adhering to ethical principles. The Importance of Ethical Principles in Counseling Psychology Counseling psychology involves working with patients or clients of all ages who are diagnosed with anxiety, addiction, depression, and stress (APA, 2016b). Because they are exposed to highly personal, sensitive, and confidential information, building strong relationships with clients based on certain ethical principles is important for counseling psychologists. The following are the five identified ethical principles and code of conduct that are important for counselors to adhere to: Beneficence and non-maleficence. Counseling psychologists must aim to benefit those whom they work with and be cautious to do no harm. This includes maintaining confidentiality and being open-minded when they come across information that may affect others’ lives. Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [SD3]: Very insightful look at the importance of valid, credible sources and how to establish that a source is valid and credible. Well done! TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 5 Fidelity and responsibility. Counseling psychologists should establish trust with whom they work and accept responsibility for their behavior as needed. Integrity. Counselors must advocate honesty, sincerity, and truthfulness when they attend their clients. This includes avoiding lying, cheating, and misrepresentation of fact. Justice. Counselors must take precautions to ensure that their potential biases and the limitations of their expertise and competence do not lead to or condone unjust practices. Respect others’ rights and dignity. Counseling psychologists must respect their clients’ dignity and their rights to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination. This includes respecting cultural and individual differences by eliminating biases on factors such as race, gender, age, disability, and socioeconomic status (APA, 2010). Critical Thinking in Psychology Insights about human behavior, whether learned through empirical research, thoughtful evaluation of history or experience, or an understanding of human goals and capacities do not offer straightforward formulae or algorithms that can be applied mechanically or mindlessly. Instead, these insights mostly provide the necessary tools for further applications. Like any tools, their effective use requires some combination of experience and skills (Smedslund & Ross, 2014). Therefore, an important skill for a counselor is the ability to obtain information and apply it to solve problems using strong critical thinking, which involves not taking any information at face value (Feltham, 2010). A degree in psychology will help nurture this skill and many others. Completing a degree program in psychology will require preparing and submitting various types of assessments to demonstrate and advance critical thinking, decision-making, information literacy, and professional writing and communication skills. The program will Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [SD4]: Great explanation of the importance of ethics and great identification and explanation of the most important principles. Nicely done! TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 6 involve exercises and learning modules that will require thinking complexly and articulating those thoughts to communicate knowledge, observations, and conclusions with coworkers, clients, and others. In short, the degree program will help hone the specific skills required to compete and succeed as a psychology professional in today’s environment. Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. Comment [SD5]: You did a good job explaining how coursework and a degree in psychology will help build critical thinking skills. TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 7 References American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (pp. 3-4). Retrieved from https://apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf American Psychological Association. (2016a). Helping people improve their lives. Retrieved from http://apa.org/action/careers/improve-lives/index.aspx American Psychological Association. (2016b). Counseling psychology. Retrieved from http://apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/counseling.aspx British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (n.d). Effectiveness of counseling. Retrieved from http://bacp.co.uk/research/resources/ Columbia College. (n.d.). Evaluating the credibility of your sources. Retrieved from https://college.columbia.edu/academics/integrity-sourcecredibility Feltham, C. (2010). Critical thinking in counselling and psychotherapy. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y4LnJ6AY05oC&printsec=frontcover&dq=critical+thin king+and+counseling&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4wZ7Qk9zNAhVFP48KHSe3BHEQ6 AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=critical%20thinking%20and%20counseling&f=false Marks, D. F., Murray, M., Evans, B., & Estacio, E.V. (2015). A–Z of research methods and issues in health psychology. Health psychology: Theory, research and practice (4th ed.). Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books?id=YZDtCQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=research+ on+theories+of+psychology&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB373BzuDNAhUFJJQKHfT0D LMQ6AEILTAD#v=onepage&q=research%20on%20theories%20of%20psychology&f=false Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited. TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 8 Smedslund, J., & Ross, L. (2014). Research-based knowledge in psychology: what, if anything, is its incremental value to the practitioner? Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 48, 365-383. doi 10.1007/s12124-014-9275-1 Copyright © 2016 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document is prohibited.
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