I am very near to the end of this month, and I have learned a lot about mental illness, mental health treatment, historical trauma, and about my home state of New Mexico.
As I’ve reflected on the things that I’ve learned, I’m reminded of the benefits of experiential learning. Oberlin College’s Winter Term is something that I am often not sure I like. There can be a certain amount of pressure to come up with a meaningful project, and the transition from Oberlin to Winter Term back to Oberlin can be jarring, at least for me. But this year, I have a renewed appreciation for Winter Term. This month has provided me with a very unique opportunity to observe mental health practitioners in a way I didn’t think was possible. Observing the Telehealth clinics and riding alongside a psychiatrist from the ACT Team (along with some supplementary reading) has provided so many insights that I don’t think would have been possible in a normal classroom, or at least not possible in the same way.
I have yet to take an abnormal psychology class in college, though I’m sure I will at some point. Because of this, there is a lot I don’t know about mental illness in terms of diagnostic criteria and understanding etiology. Because of this limitation, I’m sure there were things in the patients I could have looked out for but didn’t know to. Perhaps because of this my learning experience this month hasn't been as rich and robust as it could've been, had I come in with a different background.
That being said, I found learning about different mental illnesses and psychological phenomena by observing actual people far more valuable that learning about that material from a textbook. Textbook learning is important to build a solid foundation in any area but learning through observation this month has meant that anything I learn sticks with me more. It’s as if I were learning about a diagnosis through a case study; but I was exposed to probably 30-40 different case studies and each one taught me something new. The things that I saw in patients: the symptoms, their concerns, their ways of processing and their goals and desires—all of that was so much more real, relevant, and memorable.
At the beginning of this month, I realized quickly how young and inexperienced I am to be embarking on a project like this. There is a lot I didn’t know. There is still a lot I don’t know. But now I certainly know more. This unique experience has allowed me to lay a foundation that will help me in my future in the psychology field. Winter Term has been a helpful reminder of the value of experiential learning, especially in a field that deals with real people and their very real lives.