learning stuff

I am learning a lot of cool stuff at school.

I come home every Tuesday/Thursday with a brain-full of new information to relay to any poor individual that comes within my path.. Typically my husband, Chase...my sister, Justine.. or my 2 year old daughter, Claire.. and now you dear reader.

So last week in my Abnormal psychology class we discussed the DSM4 and the 5 Axis (or Axi ? ) ... anyway there are 5 of them.
 Axis I, is where a therapist/counselor/psychologist would code the client for any current disorders..anything and everything is here from autism to anxiety.,..
Axis II, any personality disorders (a long standing inflexible, maladaptive personality trait that is impairing the persons functioning.) For example a psychopath has an antisocial disorder..
Axis III is any medical condition that the person may have (be careful here for hypochondriacs hahaha they've got them all ha.. oh that's not funny.. ok it is a little).. For example: someone with generalized anxiety (axis 1), may have a dependent personality (axis II), and they may have hypertension and high blood pressure (axis 3) you see how these are all related!?
Axis IV is the Psychosocial and environmental problems a person may have, perhaps they are homeless, have no insurance, no job, financial problems, marriage problems.. the list goes on and on. Axis V is their current level of adaptive functioning (THAT is quite a long list I won't go into much detail.. ok just a little in a minute)...
So take this example
Imagine a a herion addict ... on axis I they have substance dependency.. Axis II may have an antisocial personality...on Axis III maybe they shared too many needles, now they have HIV or hepatitis C, they could be homeless, Axis IV.
In order to determine their level of adaptive functioning one would want to use the GAF (global assessment of functioning) Score.. this is from a 1-100 (being number one on this scale is NOT desirable..that would be something close to being in a mental hospital strapped down to a bed doing .. well not doing anything much.) I would have to agree with my professor and say I know no one that is a 91-100 .. a 91-100, if they exist they have superior functioning over a variety of activities with no symptoms or conditions... if you find this person I bet they are pretty annoying or boring.
Most people are about 61-80, a transient/mild with predictable reactions to stressful events, mild symptoms, a little anxiety or depression every now and then, may have some difficulty at work, sometimes can't sleep.. etc...
I would much rather be in this range than the 21-40 impairment/hallucination zone.. think shopping cart lady that argues with an illusion.. no thank you! anything lower than 20 they definitely need to be watched they are a danger to themselves and others...Who decides what your score is? A counselor, of course. And according to my professor scores can go up; there is HOPE!

Then, last Tuesday night I went to an amazing class called Counseling/Psych 174: Introduction to Counseling. I have a great, talented, smart instructor and I am super excited about this class. We talked about counselors, their issues, and how they need to be self aware so they don't unknowingly bring biases into a counseling session.  During this class I realized one of the many reasons I am obtaining my Master's in counseling... my favorite part of teaching junior high was developing their trust...the interactions with my students, giving advice, being real, enjoying their company. I think that Junior high students need an outlet, besides just their peers and parents,  a safe adult to talk to and reach out to and to look up to as a role model. The teaching part is fun, don't get me wrong, but teaching basic facts is boring, teaching life lessons, now that's where the real fun is!  Tonight we will discuss Ethics. I get to find out if it is ok to buy kids lunch.. I hope so...

This morning in my abnormal psych class we talked about tests... like the ink blot kind of tests... my professor asked if someone  was fixating on perhaps female anatomy that maybe they would be categorized with a problem.. of course always the funny one I retorted with "or they may be a gynecologist " Don't worry he thinks I am funny, and doesn't take me seriously. Anyway, then he showed us some ink blots from the Rorschach... The first one I saw the Eiffel Tower and a girl next to me saw seahorses.. some other people in class saw some other cool things.. anyway he told me and my elbow partner that we are lucky to sit together  because we both answered the way a normal person would/should. Ha! I thought that was hilarious news. Then he said we should take these "ink blots" and other discussed tests with us when we are pursuing our potential "suitors".. Of course we all laughed, but then I thought "Oh my poor husband! He's going to get analyzed for life!"

What do you see?

Well, I am sure you are super excited to have read a small bit about what I am learning about right now. Be excited, be very excited.
Maybe next time I will blog about some more cool stuff Claire is up to...like vacuuming couches..

Oh, and number one lesson from my psych teacher: Empathy is key.