Mental Health Personal Statement

There are several reasons in my personal and professional life that led to the decision to pursue a graduate degree in mental health. As an educator, I work with students every day who struggle with mood and behavior disorders. The most rewarding moments of my career are the days when I can help a student overcome a mental hurdle that changes their perspective on how they view their own well-being. The more I work with these students, the realization has become clear that a broader skill-set and knowledge base is necessary to provide them with the help they need. Moreover, I learned that I want to work with a diverse range of clients, as opposed to a limited student population. Thus, at this point in my life, these experiences provided the
During my education program, I took any extra courses in psychology that I found would benefit my relationship with my students and their families; the rationale being that I wanted to understand the correlation between their mental health and academic success. As I was taking these classes, I had the opportunity to visit El Salvador and Haiti as a volunteer teacher in youth shelters. Because the decentralization of psychiatric and counseling services remains a major need in El Salvador, there is a lack of community-based mental health services available to youth and adults. In speaking with the residents of the shelters, I learned they were there due to an unstable home, largely in part to mentally unstable caregivers. Similarly, the social and spiritual beliefs in Haiti often deterred the conversation regarding mental health. These two international trips, combined with my experience working as a mentor and teacher, increased my awareness of the results of mental instability on the individual and the family, as well as the need for global and community awareness of mental health. After these trips, I became more compassionate and empathetic, as well more curious toward the correlation between under-served communities and mental health. As a result, I vowed that if I could become a mental health counselor, I would return and provide the
To gain experience with a variety of populations, I chose to work in communities where I knew the population was both culturally and economically diverse. Consequently, each environment provided new challenges to learn the culture, background, and the history of the population in my class or group. Culture and family background was a dominant factor in how my students responded to the ways I approached new topics and ideas. Recognizing the diversity of the classroom was key to breaking the communication barrier between myself and the students. Paying close attention to their culture and backgrounds aided in forming a mutually trusting relationship. I find this to be highly valuable in the field of both education and mental health, but particularly in the process of talk-therapy. With help and guidance, I watched my students become more hopeful, internally motivated, and willing to work for change in their community, despite any adversity they faced in their personal lives. It is my goal to provide the same services to a broader