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Undergraduate Studies ePortfolio

Amanda Psychology, 2011

Personal Statement

My name is Amanda, and I grew up in Alabama but moved to the sugar white sandy beaches of the Emerald Coast in Panama City Beach, Florida. My long term goal is to become a counselor and pursue further education on the subject of neuropsychology.

Resume

Amanda Flathmann

77 Park Place

Panama City Beach, Fl 32413

Amandajosie@gmail.com

Objective My career goal is to apply the skill and knowledge that I have acquired in a new atmosphere full of energy and fun. In whatever job I choose, I

know that I want to help others by empowering them with knowledge. Work ExperienceBartender 03/2011- current, Watercolor Inn and Resort, Santa Rosa Beach, Fl. Bartender at the Beach Club at Watercolor Inn and Resort. My responsibilities include bartending, serving, issued $500 cash drawer, stocking,

and inventory. The computer system that the Beach Club uses is Micros. The season is coming to an end, and hours have been cut. Manager and Senior Bartender 02/26/10-10/18/2010, Turtle Bar, Seacrest Beach, FlThe Turtle Bar is inside of High Pointe Resort on beautiful Highway 30A. I was the manager and senior bartender. I was responsible for figuring

the cash drops, balancing the register, figuring daily profit reports, paying vendors, bartending, providing exceptional customer service, coordinating staff’s schedules, inventory, placing vendor orders, working closely with the owners to carry out their vision, and creating a warm and relaxing atmosphere for guests. This was a high volume resort atmosphere.

 Server12/25/09- 02/21/2010, Cheeky Monk, Winter Park, CoCheeky Monk is an upscale Belgium Beer Café. I worked as a server. Our computer system was Aloha. I have learned extensive knowledge in a

variety of Belgium beer. I enjoy working in the fast pasted, resort volume restaurant.   Barista11/17/2007-02/21/2010, Intrawest, Starbucks, Winter Park, CoAccepted a job with Intrawest Starbucks and moved to Winter Park, Co 11/15/2009 during the off season of the beach. I worked as a barista. My

hours were around 15-20 hours a week.

Resume

Work Experience Continued

Bartender12/2007- 11/14/2009, Carrabbas Italian Grill, Panama City Beach, FlBegan working at Carrabbas after Sentry went out of business. Motor Carrier Consultant3/2007- 12/2007, Sentry Total Safety Services, Inc, Callaway, FlSelf employed with Sentry Total Safety Services. We offered on line services to assist the owner operator and motor carrier in licensing their

commercial motor vehicles. We provided free consultation to motor carriers regarding Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations governing commercial motor vehicles and motor carriers.

Safety Director8/2001 – 3/2007 Integrity Express, LLC, Newton, ALDirector or Motor Carrier Safety and Compliance, governed by United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) safety rules and

regulations. I was solely responsible for filing company International Fuel Tax Agreement Reports, and all the individual state quarterly and annual reports. I also was responsible to recruit drivers, take those drivers through a detailed orientation program and DOT background screening. I also launched a medical benefits program and an occupational accident program, and handled such claims (accident, occupational accident, and medical,) solicited direct customers, filed base plates, and learned about dispatch. It was my responsibility to work all DOT accidents (or incidents) and handle cargo claims. I worked hard to establish good working relationships with my insurance adjustors and work with them to prevent claims and loss of revenue. I have learned that the key to the success of a safety fit and prosperous company is each individual driver. I have mastered the skill of communication and counseling each driver so that they understand how important safety and prevention is to them and to the company. To my career, I have had two Federal Department of Transportation full scale audits of my entire safety department, and I have received two satisfactory ratings from the Department of Transportation.

Federal Compliance3/1999 - 8/2001 Integrity Carriers, Inc ( became Integrity Express, LLC,) Midland City, AL During this period, I worked for Integrity Carriers in DOT compliance. My duty was to audit the records of duty status and record and

address any violations to Section 395 of the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations with each driver.

Resume

Education10/2009- current Argosy UniversityPursuing my B/A and Master’s degree in the counseling psychology programGraduation will be October of 2011 for BA 4/1999 Troy State University Dothan, Dothan, AlSome College Coursework CompletedDuring my time at Troy State University Dothan, I completed my regular course work, and began further studies in advanced biology. I made the

Dean's List during my time at Troy State. I excelled and enjoyed my studies in advanced biology.9/1997 Wallace Community College, Dothan, ALAssociate Degree in ScienceWill have a BA in Psychology by June 2011Received a volleyball scholarship to attend Wallace Community College. I followed a basic course of studies in science. I earned an Advanced

Associates Degree in Science. I remained on the Dean's List for my grades, and a few quarters I made the President's List for my grades.6/1995 Northside Methodist Academy, Dothan, AlHigh School DiplomaAt Northside Methodist Academy, I completed an advanced course of study and received an advanced diploma. I also played sports at Northside,

participated in student council, and received honors.

Resume

Skills

Proficient at managing,

Company Cost Management

Safety and Loss Prevention

Employee Counseling

Employee Qualification Process

Recruiting

Thorough USDOT Driver Employment Verification and Past Investigation,

IFTA (Tax) Reporting and Cost Management,

Microsoft Office

Power Point Presentations

Microsoft Excel

Knowledge and experience navigating through complex computer programs

Creating reports from such programs

Computer skills

Knowledge of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations’ Federal Regulations, Leadership

Project Management

File Assembly and Maintenance,

Insurance Claims and Experience in Working with Adjustors and Underwriters,

Directing orientation processes,

Extensive experience dealing with customers and managing up to fifty employees

Florida Food Manager Certification

I am a people person, adaptable, happy, and I enjoy a fast paced work environment.

Reflection

My academic tenure at Argosy has been a very positive and productive experience. I have taken psychology classes that contributed to my knowledge in the foundation of psychology. I have also taken many classes that focused on addiction and substance abuse. I have expanded my abilities in critical thinking, information literacy, communication skills, ethics, and diversity. My knowledge of conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and historical trends of psychology has immensely expanded. I have worked extensively and expanded my knowledge of applied psychology in various experiences investigating psychological principles and investigating empirical studies. As a result of my experiences at Argosy, I have been able to positively developed effective communication, respect for others, appreciation of diversity, and increased intrapersonal effectiveness.

Table of Contents

Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

Research SkillsCommunication Skills: Oral and WrittenEthics and Diversity AwarenessFoundations of PsychologyApplied PsychologyInterpersonal Effectiveness

Sampling Technique:

My thesis question is how emotion focused therapy can help clients change empower themselves to change their lives, as opposed to behavior focused therapies. I would like to take a random sample of patients who participate in both techniques. The random sample could be taken from the population of a clinic’s lists of patients. By using random sampling, I would ensure that all of the population would have an equal chance of being chosen (Argosy University, 2010). I would also use stratified random sampling of both behavioral therapy and emotion focused therapy clients, in order to make their representation proportional to both groups of the sample population (Argosy University, 2010). The simple random sample would be accurate representation of the population. I would choose stratified sampling in order to make sure that the actual percentage of both behavioral clients and emotion focused therapy clients in the sample would be accurately proportional to the population (Argosy University, 2010). I think that by taking simple random sample and a stratified sample there would be less chance of bias in my results (Argosy University, 2010).

Research Skills: Work Sample

Skills: Oral and Written

Communication Skills, Oral and Written: Work Sample

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is-infinite,” William Blake. In Chapter Two of Interpersonal Effectiveness, Alberts defined perception as the process of perceiving what we take in from our physical senses, and then organizing and interpreting that information. Alberts also goes on to say that this process can be either conscious or unconscious and this is the key to human communication. The idea that perception is the key to everything is the most important thing that I have learned in this class. It was also important for me to put thought into consciously perceiving. I have since put a lot of thought into what and why I might unconsciously perceive. For me, the answer to that was tied into my belief system. I think that a belief is a just a thought that we reinforce by thinking it over and over and having outside sources reinforce it to us. In Chapter 3 of Intrapersonal Effectiveness, Alberts talks about that humanistic theory. I really agree with the humanistic theory in general, but I thought it was very interesting to read about our motivation being influenced by perspective and beliefs about ourselves. I really began to understand that since perspective is the key, choosing what I want to believe is the foundation of perspective. It has become very obvious to me throughout this class that my perspective determines everything, but specifically my intrapersonal effectiveness. After all, how can I perceive others objectively if I am holding on to a belief that evokes the emotional response of defensiveness? The key to interpersonal effectiveness is me. I want to learn to acknowledge beliefs of my own that may interfere with my interpersonal effectiveness. I know that I need to improve on this. My goal is to get to a point that I see others objectively. I think that when I am able to achieve that, relationships will become enjoyable. Learning that it is all about my perspective has also doubled with learning that about others. I want to put more thought into how others may perceive things. We each live in our own perception worlds, and I think it is all about empowering yourself in order to allow others.

Ethics and Diversity Awareness: Work Sample

The human race is filled with diversity, which I deeply appreciate. There are so many religions, and I have studied many of them and I find beauty in all that I have read. On the subject of whether religion should influence personality development, I agree that it does influence personality. Whether it should or should not is entirely up to each individual who chooses how he or she wants to live in his or her own unique experience on the great planet earth.

In the situation of accidentally meeting a client in a public setting, there are three different sets of ethical codes to which we can refer. The American Counseling Association’s (ACA) (Code of Ethics, 2005,) says under the section of Potentially Beneficial Interactions that when a client and therapist non-professional interaction with a client may be beneficial, that the therapist is to document the interaction. The therapist would want to document the interaction in their case records and state the reason and rationale for the interaction. The key point in this section of the code is that the interaction should be initiated with the client’s consent. According to the American Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics (APA,) I would refer to Principle B and E. Principle B states that therapists are to uphold professional conduct and they are to clarify their professional roles to their clients.

The Sri Lankan culture is centered on “face” or dignity and honor of the person. According to Sri Lankan culture, face can be given or lost in social situations. Because this is so central in the Sri Lankan culture, and considering that Sabina has only been living in the United States for five years, I would assume this is still ingrained into Sabina’s beliefs. Face is such an important factor; a common problem of Sri Lankans is not being comfortable making decisions, (Sri Lanka- Language, Customs, Culture, and Etiquette, 2009.) .) Making a decision could lead to failure, and failure leads to loss of face. This could be the central element that is affecting Sabin’s inability to make a decision. Loosing face would also influence her decision to initiate interaction in the grocery store with her therapist, (Sri Lanka- Language, Customs, Culture, and Etiquette, 2009.)

Foundations of Psychology: Work Sample

I think that the most significant contribution that Freud pointed out was that people are motivated by unconscious drives in addition to conscious desires (Feist & Feist, 2009). The concept of the unconscious was so important and plays a large roll when understanding personality (Argosy University, 2010). According to Freud, the unconscious mind stays buried but the drives and instincts of the unconscious surface in our words and actions (Feist & Feist, 2009). Freud even went back and acknowledged that some of our unconscious tendencies were due to our evolutionary process, and that is why he believed that instincts were part of the unconscious mind (Feist & Feist, 2009). Freud called these inherent traits phylogenetic endowment (Feist & Feist, 2009). Another interesting contribution that Freud contributed was his idea of preconscious. Freud believed that the preconscious was between one’s unconscious and conscious thoughts, and it held information that one could with some difficulty recall into consciousness (Feist & Feist, 2009).

Applied Psychology : Work Sample

A child in late childhood begins to involve social and psychological characteristics in his or her understanding of self. These characteristics often involve the child comparing and evaluating him or herself socially (Santrock, 2009). During this time, a child’s emotional development begins to include difficult emotions. The child is also capable of having several emotions at one time and considering the situation that lead up to the emotion (Santrock, 2009). It is during this period that children learn to suppress negative emotion and redirects their feelings (Santrock, 2009).

Margarite’s counselor would want to educate her parents on this important socio-emotional time of development for Margarite by explaining these things. Margarite’s inability to make friends because of a language barrier could be really emotionally damaging to her at the age of eight years old. Margarite is probably experiencing emotions such as rejection and shame, which would really affect her idea of self.

Margarite’s problems making friends could really influence her socio-emotional development based off of Erik Erikson’s stage of industry versus inferiority. In Erickson’s stage of industry versus inferiority, children become curious about how things work. Erickson’ also theorizes that a child’s social like outside of family also influences their sense of industry (Santrock 2009). According to Santrock (2009), school becomes important in helping contributing to a child’s idea of industry. Because Margarite is not fluent in English, other children could perceive and treat her as if she were of below average intelligence. It would be very easy for Margarite to develop a sense of inferiority instead of industry.

In addition to the language barrier causing Margarite to feel inferior, she would also deal with the language barrier in attempting to learn from her classes. Academic achievement also depends on the child’s self concept. According to our online lecture, children who are low achievers typically attribute their successes to outside forces, and therefore they attribute their lack of success to objects beyond their control (Argosy University, 2010). Margarite’s counselor would want to encourage her parents to re-enforce her self-esteem by praising her for her

Intrapersonal Effectiveness: Work Sample

Interpersonal EffectivenessAn aggressive communicator does not give thought to other’s opinions or values, but is very sensitive to someone else’s criticism (Joseph De Vito, Interpersonal Messages.) People who choose to communicate aggressively may have an external locus of control and feel very insecure and out of control. An example of aggressive response to a friend who borrowed thirty dollars and did not pay it back would be to demand the money back immediately. The aggressive response would be angry and may result in an argument. In our text, De Vito says that the aggressive communicator may only choose to communicate aggressively in response to someone taking advantage of him or her.

A Non-assertive communicator just gives in to what others want with no thought to him or herself. (Joseph De Vito, Interpersonal Messages.) An example of a non-assertive response to the friend who borrowed thirty dollars and did not pay it back would be to just not say anything at all. I do not think that the non-assertive communicator would not want the conflict of saying something to the friend. The non-assertive communicator would let it go, but he or she would let it go because they believe that what they think or want does notmatter.

Assertive communicators are a good balance of the benefits of aggressive communication and non-assertive communication. Assertive communication has the desired outcome that aggressive communication can bring without the argument. Assertive communication has the desired peaceful solution that non-assertive communication offers. An assertive communicator focuses on the desired outcome of the situation from both perspectives. An assertive communicator also has an external locus of control. De Vito says that an assertive communicator acts in his or her own “best interests without denying or infringing on the rights of others.” So, an assertive response to a friend who borrows thirty dollars and did not pay it back would be to first decide what he or she wanted. If the assertive communicator wanted to get the thirty dollars back, he or she would just ask for the money back. The assertive communicator would communicate clearly and honestly. Maybe he or should would say “I really need the money that I lent you back.” “I don’t get paid until next week, and the thirty dollars would help me a lot.” The assertive communicator would never feel emotional or out of control.

My Future in Learning

I truly believe that the process of life revolves around learning and applying these newly acquired pieces of information to the creation of my own reality. I envision my future full of education and exposure to new ideas. I believe that these experiences will help me sort through and choose what I want to put my focus on and what I want to bring into my experience.

Contact Me

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mail address below. amandajosie@gmail.com