Student Reflection

Throughout my placement, I had the opportunity to interact and participate in group activities that focused on the Wellness of older adults. It was interesting to see how Esprit de Vie was able to incorporate activities that were fun and at the same time focused on improving and protecting the resident’s cognitive function, such as memory, attention, and language. Moreover, I was able to build on my counselling skills through my interactions, displaying active listening, paraphrasing, and having unconditional positive regard. Most importantly, I was able to build rapport with the clients and see how group activities have the potential to improve their lives. 

Additionally, I also had the opportunity to create a questionnaire, collect data, and analyse the data on SPSS. The goal was to test if the group activities provided in the Wellness club were impacting the wellbeing of the participants. I was able to work in a multidisciplinary team, which included students from occupational therapy and public health. Those interactions provided me with good insights regarding the main method they use in research, for example, qualitative analyses instead of quantitative. I developed awareness that when creating a survey for older adults, a specific understanding about their limitations is required to tailor a survey to meet their needs. For example, analyzing if they were able to answer the questions due to health conditions, such as Parkinson’s or dementia. 

The experience gained with Esprit de vie further equipped me for my future in clinical psychology. I was able to improve my interpersonal skills through my interactions with older adults and learn more about a specific age group. Additionally, I was able to actively listen, paraphrase, and most importantly build rapport with clients. Those skills are imperative for providing quality treatment to patients in the future. Additionally, I was able to consolidate my statistics skills by creating a small questionnaire, collecting data, and analyzing the results. The placement provided me an opportunity to see how research can be implemented in the real world and an opportunity to analyze the impacts of the wellness program on its participants. As a future psychologist, it is important to integrate science and practice, and the placement furthers my knowledge on how to integrate both in the real world. Finally, the internship allowed me to work in a multidisciplinary team, providing me with further insight into other disciplines, and allowing me to understand and work with different disciplinary perspectives and approaches.