Professional Goals

Long term Goal:

Have a social work career on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Necessary skills:

1. Communication Skills (written and verbal):

Having excellent communication skills is vital to master in a professional career. These skills will improve my ability to share professional conclusions with clients. Effective communication will allow me to establish important connections with key mental health leaders. Having health connections within the community you work is important when collaborating with peers and the community at large.

I have had extensive practice of my communication skills during my college career. I have given many speeches and written countless papers. An example that demonstrates my effective communication skills involves a research article that I put together this semester that required me to use both oral and written communication skills:

Oral:

I facilitated meetings schedules;

Held informational presentations with NAMI Ohio (the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio) affiliates on Senate Bill 43, this bill was written to clarify and expand Ohio’s already existing Court Ordered Outpatient Law;

Explaining the necessity of collecting data to the presentation participants and then doing so, using a pre and posttest questionnaire that I designed in collaboration with the Associate Executive Director of NAMI Ohio.

Written:

I ran a t test as a statistical analysis tool to determine if the data collected during the intervention (the informational presentations) was statistically significant;

Wrote up an in depth report of my findings that included an extensive discussion section that examined all aspects of the intervention and its outcome.

2. Legislative knowledge

Having knowledge of legislative structure and processes can be read about in journal articles and other government documents. However, I believe the most beneficial way for me to increase this area of understanding is through direct exposure.  This skill will be acquired over the life of my career.

  3. Direct Service experience

Having experience working in direct mental health service delivery system will better prepare me to construct, alter or, vote on legislation that will directly affect practitioners and individuals with a mental illness. I will be more informed of the actual experience of navigating a community mental health system as well as, the issues that daily life with a mental illness can pose. I can improve upon this knowledge and skill set by working in the Community Mental Health field. This skill will need to be acquired through direct practice and will take many years to accomplish proficiency.

Intermediate Goals: 

1. Obtain LISW

I plan to study to gain some direct practice experience in a Community Mental Health setting and schedule to take the LISW examine in the next year.

2. Obtain LICDC license

I want to obtain my Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor certificate in order to better help my clients. Many individuals who suffer from a mental illness self-medicate and having a better understanding of how to treat addiction will enable me to help my clients find different ways to cope with their symptoms. I would like to acquire this certificate in the next year.

3. Work in Community Mental Health field

In order to accomplish my long term goal of working on Capitol Hill I will need to gain insight into the needs of individuals with a mental illness as well as, how community mental health systems operate. I want to obtain a career in community mental health upon my graduation on May 5,2013.

** If you have any suggestions on how I can obtain/ improve upon my professional skills please, feel free to post a response to my page!