{"id":203,"date":"2011-08-23T12:50:45","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T17:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/2011\/08\/23\/how_am_i_using_community_psychology_a_reflection_on_6_months_on_the_job\/"},"modified":"2011-08-23T12:50:45","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T17:50:45","slug":"how_am_i_using_community_psychology_a_reflection_on_6_months_on_the_job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/2011\/08\/23\/how_am_i_using_community_psychology_a_reflection_on_6_months_on_the_job\/","title":{"rendered":"How Am I Using Community Psychology? A Reflection on 6 Months on the Job"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Danielle<\/a>** This article originally appeared on the Community Psychology Practice Blog<\/a>**<\/div>\n

When I first was asked the question, ‘How are you using Community
\nPsychology at work?’ I thought to myself’ ‘Am I?’ This is something I’ve
\nparticularly struggled with over the last year, having graduated in
\nMay, 2010. It was a really tough transition for me, leaving an
\nincredible Community Psychology program (at UMass, Lowell<\/a>)
\nwhere I had spent two years building strong networks, sense of
\ncommunity and, perhaps most importantly, a great family of peers and
\nmentors. Despite all of that, financial and personal reasons brought me
\nback home.<\/p>\n

Moving home was difficult mostly because I felt that I was hitting
\nreset. I did not have a community based in Community Psychology
\n(hereinafter referred to as CP), and I didn’t know anyone who even
\nunderstood what it meant. Anyone who has studied CP is most likely
\nfamiliar with the question, ‘What is that, exactly?’ This is a question I
\nget monthly. Well, perhaps more like weekly. The truth is, I have
\nlearned to go from bemused to amused by my family and friends still not
\nfully understanding what I went to school for (three years after the
\nfact). I often overhear my family telling others ‘She studied Community
\nPsychology.. she’s like a Social Psychologist’ kind of like Sociology, I
\nthink.’ So if no one around me understands it, how can I feel that I am
\nusing it?<\/p>\n

When I finally found a job after months of searching, I landed in the non-profit sector at Planned Parenthood<\/a>.
\nI immediately thought, now this is exactly the job I’ve been wanting.
\nI’ll be implementing all kinds of CP values ‘ outreach and organizing,
\neducating and resource-sharing, collaborating with the community,
\nempowerment and consciousness-raising. This is the ideal setting, I
\nremember thinking. The reality of it was that I found myself working in
\nfront of a computer the majority of the time. I was surprised with the
\nbureaucratic nature of our meetings and the precedence of fundraising
\nagendas over patient outreach. I was so consumed with our need for
\nfunding that I couldn’t focus on anything else. I knew there was room
\nfor’if not a need for’CP in our environment. Despite the dire times and
\nalarming threats to our organization, we were still working so hard to
\nmaintain individual and community wellness. I realized I was struggling
\nwith my lack of involvement with CP relations, while immersed in an
\norganization that exudes just that.<\/p>\n

That’s when I finally realized what my graduate mentors had been telling
\nme for months: I had to bring CP to me. I had to create it in my own
\nenvironment, in my own ways. I started talking about CP values to people
\naround me; to members in my department, my CEO, our education
\ndepartment and outreach coordinator. I started working on research
\nprojects off-site where I could learn more about our constituents within
\ntheir communities. I started talking about volunteer opportunities and
\nadvocacy within our younger communities. I attended the Society for
\nCommunity Research and Action (SCRA) conference, and signed up to write
\nfor this blog. After that, I started feeling as though there were so
\nmany opportunities available. All it took was talking about CP values,
\nour organizational needs, and what I’d like to bring to the table.
\nThat’s when I realized I wasn’t allowing myself to feel empowered enough
\nto do it.<\/p>\n

Once I regained faith in my ability as a Community Psychologist, I was
\nable to feel more useful. I realized that my previous experience with
\nqualitative research and empowerment-raising was not only something we
\nneeded, but something that people were interested in hearing about. I
\nhave also found that my interests and knowledge of community outreach
\nmay be simple and common among a CP community, but in our organization,
\nthey are seen as unique and innovative. With my experience and goals, I
\nam able to provide more resources and creativity to our already thriving
\nenvironment with just a little touch of Community Psych; something my
\nco-workers didn’t know they already had in them. For me, six months into
\na job post graduate school, I was finally finding what I could offer to
\nmy environment. And, well, to myself. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said,
\n‘You must do the thing you think you cannot do,’ and that, to me, is
\nwhat Community Psychology is really about.<\/p>\n

\n—-
\nDanielle Gemmell, M.A.
\nPlanned Parenthood of NJ<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

** This article originally appeared on the Community Psychology Practice Blog** When I first was asked the question, ‘How are you using Community Psychology at work?’ I thought to myself’ ‘Am I?’ This is something I’ve particularly struggled with over … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/csp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}