Lesson 2: Is the Mental Health field the right career for me?


Attention


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Discuss the difference between Mental Health and Mental Illness
  • Discuss if the field of Mental Health is the right career path.
  • Reflect upon the concepts of diversity, multiculturalism, and unconditional positive regard as it applies to the role of the student and to mental health rehabilitation practice.

Teaching

What is Mental Health?

(Watch this video)

 

This is a great video on the topic of Mental Health and what it takes to be a mentally healthy person. The KVCC Mental Health program is designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to work with individuals who have mental health diagnoses, also refered to as mental illness.

What is Mental Illness?

Mental illnesses or mental health disorders are diagnosable medical conditions that directly or indirectly impact a person's mental health. The field of psychology defines "abnormal behavior" in a number of ways:

  • Statistics - Abnormal behavior is relatively rare.
  • Sociocultural - Abnormal behavior is often subject to sanctions (punishment) by a society. Meaning, it is not "acceptable" behavior.
  • Function - Abnormal behavior interferes with the effective functioning of a person in their environment.

There are a lot of human behaviors that fit into these categories.

  • Schizophrenia (a diagnosable mental health condition) is relatively rare, but so is the ability to remember vivid details from an event ("photographic memory"). {Follow this link for information on the definition of schizophrenia: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml.}
  • Yelling at strangers in a store is not condoned by many cultures, but chewing with your mouth open may be unacceptable as well!
  • Being extremely scared of other people might keep you from talking to them directly but some have found a way to have productive careers working in environments far from other people.

What each of these examples shows is that "abnormal" is defined not just by the nature of the behavior but also by its context in a society and how it impacts a person's life.

Mental illness, as we address it in the mental health field, can be said to meet ALL of the following criteria:

  • Chronic: Mental illness is said to be chronic. It lasts a long time.
  • Persistent: It may never go away or it may continue to come back in cycles.
  • Pervasive: The symptoms are so severe that they impact many major life functions.

Recovery and Rehabilitation

The basic premise of the mental health field essentially follows along the lines of these statements:

  • The mental illness and some symptomatology may never go away...we have to learn to live with these symptoms.
  • The mental illness and the symptoms do not define the entire person, but they are profoundly impacted by them.
  • Treatment comes in many forms. Medication and other medical interventions are only part of the treatment. Treatment also includes therapy/
  • By focusing on ENVIRONMENTAL changes (housing, vocation/career, friends, networking to build social relationships, financial support, wellness support) we create the circumstances under which individuals will be more able to live with the pervasive and persistent symptoms of their mental illness.
  • Recovery can be said to be a lifelong process of skill and resource development that will allow a person to maximize their independence to live in the environment of their choice.

Diversity

In this field you will encounter a wide diversity of individuals. This diversity expresses itself in economic differences, values differences, political differences, gender and sexual orientation differences, religious differences, criminal history, health and psychiatric history, etc. Diversity also presents itself in cultural and racial differences. As a mental health worker we will continue to challenge you to learn what your personal biases are that might get in the way of your work with certain individuals. Follow this link to read the definition of bias: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bias.

Unconditional Positive Regard

The general viewpoint of professionals in the helping fields comes from the work of Carl Rogers and his concept of Unconditional Positive Regard. Carl Rogers was a psychologist who believed that every individual needed the opportunity to grow. He believed people need an environment that could provide them genuineness, acceptance and empathy. Genuineness is presenting with openness and offering self-disclosure (sharing pieces of information about yourself with your client). Acceptance means that you see others with unconditional positive regard, meaning no matter what they have done, they still deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Empathy means to listen to someone and attempt to understand where he or she is coming from (https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html).

Read this Wikipedia summary about Unconditional Positive Regard (click/touch on the words in red to be taken to the link).

What does it mean to work in Human Services?

The field of Human Services is a broadly defined one, uniquely approaching the objective of meeting human needs through an interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations. The Human Services profession is one which promotes improved service delivery systems by addressing not only the quality of direct services but by also seeking to improve accessibility, accountability, and coordination among professionals and agencies in service provide to clients.

The field is deeply connected to a profoundly "liberal" point of view in terms of service provision and the responsibility for government funded services to be available to persons in need. The system is imperfect and those of you who work in the field of human services need to understand that not all those who get services and benefits (like welfare benefits) need them and that not all who need them, get them. In the field of mental health there is lots of discussion about liberal points of view vs. conservative points of view. To learn more about these terms and what they mean in connection to "hot button" topics like abortion, the death penalty and global warming read the following document: Conservative-vs-Liberal. Many people say you have to be liberal to work in the field of mental health. I do not agree with that perspective. I do believe you have to be open minded and very aware of your personal biases/judgements that may interfere with your communication styles when working with certain people. For example, if you believe that everyone should be working, or looking for a job, you may have a hard time working with a 40 year old woman who has not held a steady job since she was 21 years old.

Human Services Professionals

"Human services professional" is a generic term for people who hold professional and paraprofessional jobs in such diverse settings as group homes and halfway houses; correctional, intellectual disability, and community mental health centers; family, child, and youth service agencies, and programs concerned with alcoholism, drug abuse, family violence, and aging. A paraprofessional is a person to whom a particular aspect of a professional job/role is delegated but who is not licensed to practice as a fully qualified professional in that field. Depending on the employment setting and the kinds of clients served there, job titles and duties vary a great deal. The primary purpose of the human services professional is to assist individual and communities to function as effectively as possible in the major domains of living.

A strong desire to help others is an important consideration for a job as a human services worker. Individuals who show patience, understanding, and caring in their dealings with others are highly valued by employers. Other important personal traits include communication skills, a strong sense of responsibility, and the ability to manage time effectively.

Where Human Services Professionals Work?

There are a wide variety of employment settings where human services professionals work. Human services workers in social service agencies generally spend part of the time in the office and the rest of the time in the field (traveling to the places where their client's live, work and socialize). Most work a Monday to Friday 40-hour week. Some jobs do expect evening and weekend work. Human services professionals work in community-based settings travel between client locations a great deal in the course of a work week. They may be inside one day in someone's kitchen and outside playing in the park with a different client and his child the next day. Human services professionals also work in residential settings. A residential setting refers to a home where multiple clients live in one large home with staff who live there with them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Staff in these settings generally work in shifts (for example: first shift = 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.; second shift 3 p.m. - 11 p.m.; third shift 11 p.m. - 7 a.m.). Because of the residents' need for supervision in the evenings and at night, 7 days a week, evening and weekend hours maybe required.

Despite differences in what they are called and what they do, human services professionals generally perform under the direction of professional staff. Those employed in mental health settings, for example, may be assigned to assist a treatment team, or interdisciplinary team, made up of social workers, nurses, psychiatrists, and other human services professionals . The amount of responsibility these workers assume and the degree of supervision they receive vary a great deal. Some workers are on their own most of the time and have little direct supervision; others work under close direction/supervision.

Human services professionals working in communities, residential care, or institutional settings provide direct services such as leading a group, organizing an activity, or offering individual one on one support. They may handle some administrative support tasks, too like documenting a person's activities. Specific job duties reflect organizational policy and staffing patterns, as well as the worker's educational preparation and experience.

Changes in the reimbursement criteria for Case Management and Community Integration services in the State of Maine have brought about changes in the kind of work that MHRT/Cs will do. Different agencies may define these roles in different ways. The work of an MHRT/C is most often paid for by private and public insurance companies. In Maine, the majority of the work done by MHRT/C's is funded by MaineCare, which is the State of Maine public health insurance for individuals who due to their low income and/or disability determination are determined (deemed) eligible for the insurance (MaineCare / Maine Medicaid).

So, is the Mental Health field the right career for you?

That is the question in front of you right now. In my experience the following criteria are critical to take into consideration when contemplating this question:

  1. I enjoy helping people get the services they need.
  2. I find the psychology of mental illness and human behavior fascinating.
  3. I have a high tolerance for a degree of "abnormal behavior."
  4. I understand that the system is imperfect and that it is sometimes not fair...and I can live with them...and change it when I can.
  5. Even if I have personal traumatic or mental health history, I am reasonably well recovered that I can be of help to others.
  6. I have a reasonable stable home setting, or plan on having one by the time I enter the workplace.
  7. I am open to changes in the workplace in regard to my job duties, responsibilities, and the use of technology.
  8. I am optimistic about life, personal change, and my ability to help others change.
  9. I am fully aware of the limits of my real power to bring about change in others.
  10. I am humble in regard to my own knowledge, experience, and abilities and embrace a lifelong learning perspective.

If these 10 characteristics seem to describe characteristics within you, then this field may very well be for you!


Assessment

Lesson 2 Quiz

Please answer all of the questions in this quiz. They relate to the Lesson and any links within the Lesson.

Lesson 2 Survey

This survey has you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 in regards to the 10 elements discussed above under "So, is the Mental Health field the right career for you". Be sure to note your score so that you can discuss your results in this week's discussion.

Scoring below is just a guide for you as you consider some of the issues you may encounter in the mental health field:

  • Scores of 10 - 25 points may mean that the field of mental health might be a good fit for you.
  • Scores of 26 - 35 points may mean you are unsure on you position regarding some of the issues brought up in this survey. You need more time to learn about these issues before you can make a decision on your personal position.
  • Scores of 36 to 50 points may mean you have some or many beliefs that could be in conflict with a number of situations you may encounter in the field of mental health. It will be important for you to explore these issues more as part of your learning to make sure this field is going to be the right fit for you.

Lesson 2 Discussion A

Describe the differences between "mental health" and "mental illness" both from your own perspective and from what you have learned in the video. Share a bit about any personal experiences you may have had that helped you to understand mental illness or may even limit or bias your understanding of mental illness.

Lesson 2 Discussion B (answer both questions in your one post)

1) Based on the results of the Lesson 2 Survey and the readings in this Lesson, discuss how your personality and values are a fit (or not) in the field of mental health. Do you feel that this is a field that you are interested in and can do well in?

2) Consider the diversity that you will encounter in this field (among both clients and co-workers). Do you think you could present to a future client the concept of Unconditional Positive Regard in your professional practice?