Developmental Psychology: Moments of Reflection
As a teacher, one of my favorite activities is to ask my students to reflect on what has stood out for them the most in my class. This is a question I would ask my clients, “What stood out the most during our time today?” The art of reflection is oftentimes overlooked in our busy lives; however, time for reflection can be some of the sweetest moments in our day where we nurture our soul. I have the privilege to share a few reflections from two first year students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. Take a moment to savor their sweet reflections.
Wise words from Dean Nakanishi:
“The thing that I have learned from class thus far that has been the most interesting and impactful is the examination of these three life stages: adolescence, middle age, and advanced adult age. These are relevant as I now have three children in my household amid the onset of puberty through later adolescence, I am 44 and am wondering if I have a pending midlife crisis or an integration-legacy moment coming, and my mother and father-in-law are at the last stages of their lives. Being able to read about the cognitive, physical, and existential development and/or decline of these areas for all three life stages has been fascinating as I’ve been able to identify and relate to much of the content in the class and book. Regarding my middle-aged life stage, I think that the internal questions about my purpose, my achievements, my relationships, and my next steps have all come into focus in a way that I hadn’t previously considered. I feel much more comfortable knowing that what I am experiencing and thinking about are not abnormal, but just another step in this grand gift called life."
Sage words from Jennifer Gannon:
“I think that if there’s any one thing that is important to take away from what I’ve learned so far in this class is that as humans we are all incredibly complex physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual beings made up not only of our bodily systems but of all our experiences and human interactions up until this point in time. In order to truly see another human being is to be aware of and tuned in to the existence of all these diverse aspects of being human. As a counselor, clients won’t be coming to me with simply their recent concerns or problems, but with all their experiences, external and internal, throughout their lifetime. Understanding the ways in which we develop as infants, children, adolescents, and adults will allow me to treat my clients as the unique and whole beings that they are.”