PSYCHOLOGY ORAL EXAM & BEYOND ...

10/17/2013  by Evelyn Jagpat O’Halloran  Psy.D.

I always welcome the change in seasons in central Texas.  One never quit knows what the weather will bring, except during summer, when “scorching hot” is irrepressibly in vogue.  This fall season came with two welcome features. 

One was my favorite weather feature, torrential rainy days.  While many welcome any semblance of water vapor in Texas, for obvious reasons, my love of rain runs a bit deeper but perhaps that is a topic for another piece.   The other feature was The Austin Group Psychotherapy Society Fall Workshop and Conference Series.  Each is headlined by Dr. Philip J. Flores, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, FAFPA and Dr. Richard M. Billow, Ph.D., ABPP, CGP, respectively.  Both are distinguished authors, professors and clinicians.  For those who are interested in learning more, see AGPS.

Last Friday I particularly welcomed Dr. Flores’ workshop on Addiction as an Attachment Disorder, for the typical reasons but also because he was my group therapy professor, way back in graduate school.  He is also “that professor” for me.  If you were fortune enough you know what I mean, that one who spoke in your native therapeutic language.  For me, he spoke in my language of group.  After I took his classes and lived the power of the group dynamic in his experiential class, the utility of group as a medium for change and healing became self-evident.  While I have since gone on to adapt my own group style and treatment model, I will always appreciate his shepherding during my fledgling years. 

While the workshop was “brilliant” as was Dr. Flores, it was my getting lost on the way there and an unexpected detour which made the deepest and richest impact on my life.  If you know me, perhaps my getting lost…. Again…. sparks little alarm or curiosity.  I traveled a road I seldom do and missed my turn.  Well, I actually took a premature sharp right off the access road and quite literally bumped into a graveyard, right there just off the highway. 

The gates were wide open as if someone was expecting me.  So, I did what any reasonable person would do, especially given I was in danger of being late for the workshop and it was threatening to rain…I entered.

Even before I passed through the cemetery gates, large marble tombstones with unfamiliar names greeted me on the right, as if ushering me in.  Then, once through the gates, the scene overwhelmed my senses.  I stood, momentarily transfixed, captivated by the sea of tombstones and monuments lining a side-walked promenade, shaded by mature regal oaks, all overlooking downtown Austin in the backdrop.  Perhaps, most striking, was the contrast between the retiring serenity of the cemetery and the promised youthful energy and vitality of the city beyond.  I was also struck by the contrast between where I am on my own journey in life and the finality of the journey through this life for each person now before me.

 

I wondered, “What were their dreams?  Did they have the courage to pursue them?  Which did they fulfill?  Which did they abandon?  Why?  Which dreams were lost when they passed on?  What is it that they each lived to regret?”  I could not shake the feeling that I was walking through an ocean of forgotten and abandoned dreams which would never see the light of day.  That within each person before me, there was once possibility and hope to not only fulfill personal potential but also to touch the lives of others.  I guess, in a strange and unexpected way, they each touched my life that day.

 I left, grateful for the reminder that I was vibrant and that within me still lived the potential to realize my dreams, potential, possibility and destiny.  The same is true for you, as well.  This blog is my way of potentially sharing what I have learned along the way to becoming a Psychology Entrepreneur and Next Generation Psychologist.  It is also my way to attempting to help others realize their dreams before they too become abandoned, forgotten and buried.  It takes you beyond graduate school and the Psychology Oral Exam to more fully exploring your professional path.

I welcome you on my journey and look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you better.  It is my hope that our online community can be a space where everyone is encouraged and dreams are supported.  As Next Generation Psychologists you are the new trailblazers!

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Tags: Austin, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, group psychotherapy, new psycholgists, psychology entrepreneur, psychology oral exam, psychology workshops