This learning task gives you an opportunity to explore some of the ways of what it means for you to be a counselor or psychotherapist. Reference in APA Format
Instructions: Imagine yourself some time in the future, when you are established in your career as a PMHNP-BC (psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner-board certified). Imagine that you are in your therapy room. It is your Ideal therapy room, furnished and decorated to create an optimal working environment for you. Look around it – what do you see? What is this room like? Now, imagine that three or four of your closest professional colleagues or friends are coming to visit you in this room. These are people who really know you, who understand and accept you. Who are they? Welcome them. They have come for a special reason, to hear you tell your story of how you became a PMHNP-BC. Think about becoming a PMHNP-BC as a journey. Start right at the beginning of that journey.
Tell them about your earliest experiences in family and school that somehow seem connected to your choice of becoming a therapist. Describe the people, places, relationships, and events that have influenced you in the direction of PMHNP-BC. Identify the choice points where you made decisions to commit yourself more fully to this type of work. Bring the story up to date. Tell them where you have arrived on your PMHNP-BC journey. You may find it useful to close your eyes for a few minutes and imagine telling this story. Then write it down. Try to write in as much detail as you can. Write quickly – don’t censor what you put down. Remember, this is your personal story.
This is pretty much a self reflection on someone who is pursuing this degree and their experiences in the mental health field. To give you a brief background, I have been working in the field of mental health for 17 years, but only 8 as a nurse. I have worked as a health tech, case manager (once I received my first degree in Criminal justice). I have worked in several psych facilities who housed forensic patients who were deemed as criminally insane. I have worked with those who have varying mental disorders. I have also worked as a clinical and residental coordinator for those who are developmentally and physically disabled.