As a psychology professional, I wish to specialize in both the short and long terms in community mental health. I look forward to a long and highly productive career helping a wide range of individuals in my community to realize their fullest potential, finding happiness in life through the development of healthy relationships with both family and society. I am especially interested in the subfields of spirituality, men’s mental health and LGBT mental health. I want to focus on spirituality, in particular, because I am convinced that, at least for most people, a deep-seated sense of meaning and purpose in life, together with a sense of belonging, is of foundational importance to psychological wellbeing, achieving a sense of acceptance, integration, and wholeness. With respect to men’s mental health, I am keenly interested in the directions being advanced by national men's health organizations in the United States, Australia, and Europe that call for a needs-driven rather than a gender-based approach to health care.
With respect to LGBT mental health, my primary concern is with the way that mental health system continues to discriminate against LGBT individuals and the way in which they often continue to be labeled as ‘mentally ill’ based on their sexual orientation. I look forward to doing further research into the way in which being discriminated against can contribute to mental distress. I am applying for training in Counseling Psychology because I am concerned with the individual’s overall health. I have the intellectual and emotional maturity required to become an excellent counselor, helping people who suffer from mental health issues to become happier and better integrated individuals, especially by learning how to deal with dysfunctional relationships.
Attending your program will challenge my intellectual and emotional growth and sharpen my professional skills in helping people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives through the development of positive and sustainable relationships. I am applying in response to what I see as a great need in our society for mental health practitioners. Your program will also prepare me for further study towards a doctoral degree. I have many strengths to offer as a candidate for your program. I am an energetic and enthusiastic individual who has always had an insatiable curiosity about the ever-changing kaleidoscope of human behavior. I enjoyed helping people and I have professional experience in a variety of counseling-related fields, teaching, educational counseling, and career counseling. I have a profound insight into understanding the minority points and the importance of a sense of belonging since I was a foster-child and later came to realize that I was gay. This is the right time for me to go to graduate school because I now have a lot to offer due to my extensive professional experience.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a wide and extensive network of support which would be available throughout the course of my studies. I have a long-term spouse who is fully supportive of my professional aspirations. In fact, this relationship has had a lot to do with my decision, especially with respect to my focus on counseling for members of the LGBT community. Over the course of many years living in Ottawa, I have also developed many nurturing friends who also work in the helping professions psychologists, mental health counselors as well as members of my local church community. And they all support my decision to apply to your program.
MA Counseling Psychology LGBT Gay Personal Purpose Help
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