Read your peers' discussion posts and respond to at least two of them. What strategies or resources would you suggest to help them clarify the steps needed to achieve their career vision? What questions can you ask to help them shape their action plan?
Be sure to provide substantive responses to help your peers build on their learning and reference any relevant assigned readings, additional resources, or professional literature to support your response.
Throughout my first course at Capella University I have worked towards transforming my passions and interests in psychology into a clear vision for contributing to the field of Applied Behavior Analysis as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. In the past, I have achieved my personal, professional, and academic goals by developing a clear plan. When I'm making the original plan, I create a timeline of how realistic the desired goal is and determine how long it would take me to achieve it, evaluate how much time I have to complete the goal while also working full time, determine if this is the field and position I am passion about, examine finances, etc. The plan tends to include a list of professionals to contact for support, additional information, and the process in which the requirements to be a BCBA need to be completed.
The resources and support that I need to achieve my vision as a practitioner-scholar in psychology include my academic advisor, professors, current BCBA's, and the executive director of the company in which I am employed. I will need these individuals for support and to provide resources about the field as well as answer any questions. For instance, the executive director of my workplace will begin providing independent supervised fieldwork next quarter and continually provides employees with a monthly training and supplemental readings that are scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles on the subject we are receiving training. McClintock (2013) discusses how scholar-practitioners continually take their knowledge and use it to synthesize, evaluate, and add to their professions. A practitioner-scholar is exactly what my executive director embodies. A scholar-practitioner also portrays the importance of consistently learning, improving, and applying professional knowledge within the field day to day to be fully committed to the well being of their clients and colleagues, which I have observed in my current workplace and will use as a resource for my own practice as a BCBA.
The timeline that I have created for achieving my goals is to graduate from Capella University with a Masters of Psychology in Applied Behavior Analysis by Summer 2017. I currently work full time and can only take one class at a time but part of my plan is to reduce hours at work in order to take two courses concurrently, thus, graduating at an earlier date. Upon graduation, I plan to prepare for the BCBA exam for about three months and then take the exam at the next available time. Upon BCBA certification, I continue to grow within my current company for several years to gain experience from quality practitioner-scholars already in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. When I am working as a Clinical Manager or Clinical Director, I will know that I have achieved my vision. I would eventually love to have my own practice but honestly would run it exactly like my current employers. They have perfected empirically tested, quality assured services to clients and have strong company ethics, which is a major part of my long-term goal and ethics as a BCBA.
In order to stay confident and committed to the actions outlined within my plan, I will continually seek support from my colleagues and other professionals in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. I will also stick to my timeline and plan in order to stay focused and committed. As I achieve the short-term goals, I am instantly motivated to achieve the next goal of my overall vision so I just need to stay focused and be positive along the way!