Hi! My name’s Maïka, I am a third and final-year honours psychology student. I completed my work placement at Mon Shack… Mes choix… Mon Avenir! which is a semi-supervised mental health resource for adults living with mental health issues. My main tasks ranged from planning and animating activities for residents and group interventions to creating tools. I was busy all summer! The biggest thing I’ve learned is that it’s okay to not know everything right away. You don’t have to: you are here to learn. It comes with time! But practically, I learned to trust myself, plan and lead activities, let go of my creativity by creating accessible and visual tools, and most importantly, assist others when they need it the most.
My motivation? Learning. I am a big fan of asking questions: I think it’s a sign of self-awareness and professional responsibility to ask for help and assistance when in doubt. Your supervisor is and will be there for you! I decided to do a summer work placement because I want to become a psychologist and before getting there, I want to gain as much experience as I can, to build my toolbox and become more equipped to help others. One thing I will remember for a long time is when I created visual and educational tools on how to distinguish a toxic relationship from a healthy one for residents, and after my Tea-Talk (a small interactive presentation) on relationships, some actually took them and told me the presentation was great: it made sense to them, and they were grateful to learn more about this subject.
As of now, it may seem like it was easy, but it was sometimes challenging. What I found the most difficult was keeping therapeutic boundaries when dealing with highly emotional situations. The good news is that it comes with time, and after a few days it became easier and I was able to manage myself to be 100% there for the residents. What did I learn from this? That it takes time. We all want to be superheroes and handle every situation like professionals, but we are not there yet, so don’t rush yourself!
I made direct links with what I have learned in class: I saw actual manifestations of some mental illnesses such as Borderline Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia, which was mesmerizing because I had the opportunity to see real-life examples. On the other hand, I quickly learned that real life doesn’t go by the book: what you’ll see is not always the extreme case. Mental health disorders are on a spectrum (in my opinion, contrary to the DSM), so you are going to see people displaying light, medium, and more advanced behaviors—don’t expect extreme cases right away!
My Experiential Learning Coordinator, Bassam Chiblak, was really supportive and always there for me. He helped me find this incredible work placement and supported me along the way. If you have questions, if you are doubting yourself… anything, he is there to help and support you! I also want to thank Josée Parent, founder and president of Mon Shack… Mes Choix… Mon Avenir! and Mathieu Lemelin for their support, training, and for always answering my million questions!
To end this never-ending post, if there is one thing that I want psychology students to remember, it is to “do it scared.” Take the risk, go ahead and take that chance, embrace the opportunity, and trust yourself!
