I AM NO SUPERMAN

I may not have superhuman powers but I can assure you, you'll be my extraordinary partner and you'll be surprised at how I can hold you and love you, eternally.

AANGAT KA SA PSYCH!

Lahat tayo ay may pagkakataong umangat at maabot ang ating pangarap na lisensya....dahil kahit ano pa man ang pinagmulan, nasa iisang bubong tayo ng disiplina.

Sikolohiya, magkaisa.

Aangat ka sa Psych!

STAGES OF BREAK UP

It is a banal statement to most people about getting up one morning with nil feeling towards their partner. It is as if in a snap of fingers, all of their unforgettable moments were dissipated into thin air. 

There is an interesting model by Steve Duck (1998) who suggested phases of dissolution of relationships such as breaking up. Breaking up does not happen suddenly, it follows a process.

Here’re the phases:

#1 Intrapsychic Phase, it is the first phase wherein the person experiences internal conflict and prefer not to voice out the problem. Albeit the person might disclose it with few others without the idea of his/her partner. In this stage, the individual is dissatisfied and feels that there is something wrong with their relationship.

#2 The Dyadic Phase, it is the phase when couple communicates their dissatisfaction or problems. Of course, couples have various responses when challenged. Some may automatically cease the relationship, some may forgive the other person and give it another chance to rectify what has been done, some may be in shocked for unexpected reasons, etc. If the problems are not resolved, they may seek out advice from others…

#3 Social Phase, involves the social connections of the couples. These connections are their families, friends, close friends, or someone who can say something about the situation of the couple. Both parties seek opinions or advice from significant people to help them resolve their personal conflicts. This phase also offers reassurance to the troubled person.

#4 Grave-Dressing Phase, this stage exemplifies the death of the relationship. Both parties here are about to mutually agree on the reasons for splitting up. This stage is an essential part of closing one relationship and helping both parties to accept and to face another day without one another, that there more possible mates who deserve them. In addition, closure in this stage is vital for both individuals to start anew.

Note: As might be expected, these phases should not be viewed as a universal model encountered by people. However, it is still important to look at this perspective in light of an understanding of how relationship undergoes a series of phases.

MGA DUDA, TAKOT AT KABA

Heto na naman ang nararamdaman, binabalot ng takot at kaba sa mga bagay na hindi pa naman talaga mangyayari. Oo, marunong din akong matakot pero mas duwag kung hindi ko lalabanan di ba? Lahat naman lumilipas. Iyan na lang ang sinasabi ko sa sarili ko.

Nakakainip rin kung minsan na gustong-gusto mong gawin ang isang bagay pero hindi pwede kasi alam mong sa sarili mo na hindi pa kaya. Wala pa. Hindi pa ito ang oras.

Marami akong gustong sabihin pero tulad ng nakagawian, itinatago ko ang ulit sa pag-asang kusa na lang na malalampasan ko 'to sa sarili ko. Sasabihin ko na lang kapag nagawa ko na. Natupad ko na. Kinakabahan pero nasasabik sa kinahihinatnan.

Aking nilalasahan ang bawat pagkakataon habang may panahon, inuunawa ang mga bagay sa abot ng makakaya, at itinutuwid ang sarili sa mga pagkakamaling nagagawa. Hanggang kailan ko kaya malalaman kung tama na ang panahon?

ALMOST READY AND EXCITED FOR SUMMER 2017

My Room

Yes! I updated some tasks for April onwards! 🤓💓 Here're some of my tasks.

Yes. I have a glass board in my room. Sometimes, I use this for writing some reminders but usually I use this for computations. 🙂 *because I am not good in numbers*

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DESIDERATA AND FLASHBACKS

Photo Image: not mine

Words of wisdom to live by,
Desiderata, Max Ehrmann (1927)

A nice reminder for all of us. This is from my friend whom I admire for her dedication in the field. We went to graduate school as people na "walang-wala" then we're here in a place that we never imagined will happen. She's in DOH-Mindanao branch working as Psychologist role and I'm in the academe.

We took the board exam together and passed it thru self-review and we're hoping to take the RPsy when we're confident enough... basta soon. Hahaha. And hopefully makapag PhD kami. We also graduated last year. Sabay rin. 😂

We're both happy with our partners just to let you know. Haha. ☺ *malapit ako sa mga Clinical Psych majors lol sobrang masayang kaibigan*

Ah, those times! Sarap balikan lahat ng hirap at nakakatawa na lang ngayong isipin.

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LOVE PSYCHOLOGY

We dive into the world of people. We are wounded, healers. People expect us to be in control of the situation and most of the time we adjust ourselves to them and to situations as always. It is difficult, right? Knowing that you are also human that needs some consideration, attention, and understanding.

It is even more difficult because, on your journey, you will experience some rough roads, you will encounter desolated places that need to be restored with your help and some even closed gates with big padlocks that you need to break and open. I know that on your journey, you will ask yourself multiple times if you are on the right path or will you even be successful in helping people in the future for you are not even successful in saving yourself because sometimes you feel lost and secluded in spite of various people that surround you.

Psychology field is not an easy task it takes patience, dedication, incessant development of skills, and above all, passion. I may not be able to calculate how difficult it is for you in struggling your academics, I may not be able to estimate how excruciating your experiences as students, but I just want you to know that there will be someone out there who experience almost the same thing, and I hope it somehow lessens the pain thinking that you are alone. I, too, as a teacher have sleepless nights and difficulties. I have my own struggles, we always have struggles... which made me think that all of us are somehow connected because of our experiences such as inner struggles and attaining some goals, etc.

But to alleviate more the struggle and difficulties, we have to think of the fulfilling outcomes of our actions as psychology majors. And what is the outcome?

We restore the heart of humanity. Can you imagine how amazing it is? We have the opportunity of restoring the heart of people because most of them forget where they came from, who they are, and what it is to be human. But we are here to help them. But to be able to do that I say, love our field despite all sleepless nights, stressful days, heartbreaks, mental breakdowns (?) and other painful experiences. Be passionate about understanding human behavior and view the world in a different perspective. It’s amazing. We need to sit in the gray areas of spectra to see the pulchritude of humans. We measure qualities of people by conceptualizing and operationalizing constructs, and transform those numbers into meaningful research or sometimes use other methods to captivate the real life experiences of amazing people…like what you just did in your course.

You already started your journey, and I hope you continue to move forward.

Be remarkable.

#61

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EGO DEFENSE MECHANISMS

Anxiety is a signal that impending danger, a threat to the ego, must be counteracted or avoided. The ego must reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and the strictures of society or the superego. According to Freud, this conflict is ever present because the instincts are always pressing for satisfaction, and the taboos of society are always working to limit such satisfaction. Freud believed that the defenses must, to some extent, always be in operation. Just as all behaviors are motivated by instincts, so all behavior is defensive in the sense of defending against anxiety. The intensity of the battle within the personality may fluctuate, but it never ceases (Feist & Feist, 2009). 

#60

LABAN, SUGOD, BANGON!

Sa bawat puyat, sa bawat luha sa tuwing hindi mo minsan maunawaan ang inaaral, sa bawat araw na napapagod ka na para maging mabuting mag-aaral, at sa mga panahon na akala mo nag-iisa ka lang.

Tandaan mo na papalapit ka na nang papalapit sa diploma mo at sa lisensyang matagal mo na ring hinihintay.

Paano ba malalaman kapag malapit ka na? Kapag mahirap na at kapag gusto mo ng sumuko. Mahirap pero lakad ka kahit pakonti-konti lang basta gumagalaw ka papalapit doon. Tiisin mo na.

Kaya huwag kang hihinto. Indikasyon iyan na malapit ka na. Ang layo na ng nilakbay mo, babalik ka pa ba?

TWO APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PERSONALITY

Engler, 2012

There are two approaches in studying personality:

1. Academic Psychology (Precursor- Wilhelm Wundt)
2. Clinical Practice (Precursor- Sigmund Freud)

Source: Engler, 2012

Aha! This is my kind of fairy tale book. Charot. Pampaantok. 😂 I got 2 1/2 hours of sleep earlier because I had to finish the some endless school paperworks. 😐

I strongly believe that authors have different ways of explaining TOP (like this one!). Engler's contains "Traits and Personology" (Henry Murray not found on Feist & Feist) and non-western theory (Zen Buddhism)! 😉🤓

I guess, I have to continue reading because a lot of times, I still forget some minute details. I also need to do this for the RPsy board and because review center season is fast-approaching! I will travel to different places again to lecture this! 🙂 I can't wait. Haha

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BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS TO EVALUATE! 💕

Perks being an instructor from a good institution and having some connections, you'll get free books from Cengage Learning. All I need to do is to read, evaluate, and provide some feedbacks for the improvement of books. 💕💓🤓🤘

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#59

ON IMPROVING MY STUDENTS' SCORES

I conducted two different exams to two different class yesterday. Both exams were outcomes-based with few easy questions. I administered the exams differently.

Class A received relaxation technique (to relax their muscles and to make them comfortable) and positive self-affirmation (to feed their minds with positive thoughts and reduce the test anxiety) before I handed down the test questionnaires. I even asked them, "Papasa ba kayo?" and then they responded to me shouting, "PAPASA KAMI!"

Class B received the usual test administration. I killed the time and when the time was up, I asked someone to pray for the class.

Guess who performed better?
CLASS A.

Now, I will conduct the methods above to help them increase their scores.

Note: I read some articles about the importance of relaxation techniques and self-affirmation. I just tried this to improve my class. I know that I should support it with further studies but this is my own little way of improving my teaching skills and to validate the findings of what I found out from the literatures and studies.

Thank you. 

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#58

#57

TO BELIEVE IS TO SEE: WHAT I LEARNED AS A TEACHER

I've never been so proud as a teacher just today.

2 years ago, a local state university accepted me as their Psychology instructor. I was juggling my work as a part-time instructor at three universities, handling online pages for psychometrician, and finishing my MA that time. I don't know how I managed all of it. I worked 6 times a week. By 2016, I worked 7 days a week. I gave up one school and then focused on two schools, finishing my MA, roving in the Philippines to lecture every weekend (because of review center), and handling online pages.

Despite the productive schedule, I was promoted after one year in a local state university as Program Head of College of Nursing and Psychology. I am dubious about my ability because I felt like I'm too young for the position and I have lots of commitments. That time, I am just satisfied as an adviser of my third-year students (my graduating students this year). But with the encouragement of my superior, I accepted it. SHE BELIEVED IN ME and that gesture inspired me to do the same with my students. *That's why I love our dean so much for she always shows her support for our program and shows her concern*

I grew as a teacher in 2 years (and I still believe that I have a lot of room for learning! I am still growing!) and I believe that I AM NOTHING WITHOUT THOSE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED IN ME AND WITHOUT MY BELOVED STUDENTS. What really inspires me to become a teacher is my students' performance every period.

My students and I grew together in a different way. They were at par in performance (that time) but I found out today that among the graduating students, most of them are candidates to receive various awards.

I just want to share what I just learned as a teacher. You have to believe in yourself, you have to better yourself for your students, listen to their needs and provide them feedback so they can improve.

Above all, you have to believe with their potentials before you see the results. So the adage that says, "to see is to believe" is not applicable in the academe. I learned that...

YOU HAVE TO STRONGLY BELIEVE FOR YOU TO SEE THE RESULTS.

FAMILIES IN THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

I want to help you with your review and your journey to studying psychology! I will not let you just copy and download everything that I have so for you to appreciate the theories of personality, I will introduce to you some theorists here from different families.

Don't be sad if you don't know some of them, I intentionally included some theorists that are new to you because we'll never know who will appear in the board examination. Okay?

Here's your homework. I want you to know these theorists! I want you to compare and contrast them. I want you to differentiate each family.

Here's the format in creating your matrix or reviewer:

Name of Theory

Name of Proponent

Basic Tenet

View of Human Behavior

Criteria of Theory

Therapeutic Technique

Good luck!

I didn't include Melanie Klein in Psychodynamic and Viktor Frankl in Existentialism, but you may include them as well.

#RoadtoPsychology #lovepsych #TheoriesofPersonality

FROM INBOX: PAP'S POSITION PAPER ON DEATH PENALTY

A Statement by the PAP on the Death Penalty

The Philippines is one of 140 countries that have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice, as part of a global trend away from capital punishment (Amnesty International, 2015, cited in “The Death Penalty Worldwide”). Yet there have been repeated calls for the Philippines to reinstate capital punishment, with current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wanting to restore it. (see Andolong, CNN Philippines, 2016).

The Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) articulates its position on capital punishment from the point of view of evidence-based social science, psychology in particular, as well as of ethics. We are convinced that the Philippines has made great strides in humanitarian development by abolishing the death penalty. We are not in favor of reinstituting it in our penal system. Capital punishment does not deliver on its hopes for better justice, closure for all parties concerned, and better crime prevention. It does not give full cognizance of the implications of its irreversible effect, the reality of the limits and inevitable class discrimination of the judicial process, and the misconception of closure and justice itself. The PAP advocates for the much better alternative of informed and rehabilitative justice, where both offender and offended get the best chance for a more positive process of closure and redemption.

We present the following arguments to support our position:

Observations about the practice of capital punishment point to its discriminatory nature. In the Philippines, it is typically the poorer sector who get this ultimate penal sanction. The majority of those sentenced to die have incomes below minimum wage (FLAG, 2000), unable to afford the legal services to defend themselves in a long process (CHR, 2007). Poorer, less educated Filipinos would not have the intellectual preparedness to think through ways of defending themselves (Te, 1996). This places them at a serious disadvantage.

Judicial flaws compromise the validity of the death penalty. These may include incompetent counsel, inadequate investigatory services, or even outright police and prosecutorial violations of judicial procedures. In the Philippines, torture or ill treatment of suspects to coerce confessions or to implicate others is commonplace. Victims often fail to lodge complaints against the police due to intimidation, fear of reprisals, and lack of funds (Amnesty International, 2002).

History also points to gross misapplications of the death penalty law, with vulnerable individuals protected by Philippine law from capital punishment finding themselves on death row. In 2003, there were 7 children in death row along with adult convicts (Amnesty International, 2003). The year 2000 saw 5 persons aged 70 or over in death row (FLAG, 2000, cited in Amnesty International, 2002). These examples show that it is not always certain whether the right person is convicted and, in this light, the death penalty is too high a price to pay when innocent people are convicted.

The death penalty, and the legal proceedings leading up to it, could exact a huge toll on the psychological wellbeing of victims, offenders, and their families. Majority of those on death row in the Philippines have been convicted of rape, with incestuous rape as the most common form. Victims of incestuous rape rarely seek the death of their offender but simply desire cessation of abuse, re-establishment of safety, and rehabilitation of their family member. A possible death penalty sentence for these cases has been noted to keep victims from pursuing charges, and a death sentence for the offender can bring guilt to the victim, further sorrow, and conflict within affected families (Madrid et. al., 2001; People v Agbayani, 348 Phil. 368, 1998; Jamon and Bautista, 2016). In fact, majority of groups representing women and children in the Philippines, who are common victims of death penalty crimes, have taken a stance against capital punishment for rape and incest because they believe it would not solve the problem (Kandelia, 2006).

A common argument for the death penalty is that it brings closure to victims and their loved ones. Indeed, research shows that some families do experience relief or peace upon imposition of the death penalty on their offenders. Yet in significant number of cases, the death penalty did not bring healing or closure to the offended (Vollum and Longmire, 2007). Instead, what seem to be therapeutic for victims’ families are to make sense of what happened to their loved one, to make meanings out of their unpleasant experience, and to construct an empowering and restorative narrative (Armour and Umbreit, 2012).

The judicial system’s primary goals should be the rehabilitation of those who have erred and the restoration of a sense of dignity in those robbed of it. This is more in line with the human right to dignity and the absolute value of all human lives, including the lives of those who commit crimes. The PAP’s position on the death penalty is consistent with its Code of Ethics, particularly the principle of Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples, consonant with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (PAP, 2010).

Extending the human rights logic, the right to life prevails over the principle of lex talionis (i.e. an eye for an eye). Even retributive justice, which posits that offenders must be punished and that the degree of punishment should be proportionate to the seriousness of crime, does not automatically and necessarily indicate death as the ultimate penal sanction (Carlsmith, Darley, and Robinson, 2002), leaving a key question for research about the appropriate maximal penalty for the most serious crimes. Moral proportionality (Carlsmith et al., 2002) need not be deemed opposed to principles of restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence (see King, 2009). It is the task of research to help illumine how multiple perspectives representing both abstract principles and people’s everyday sense and decision-making (Carlsmith et al., 2002) could guide practices of prevention and rehabilitation.

Given all these, we oppose the reinstatement of the death penalty. Furthermore, we resolve to support efforts to:

• disseminate evidence-based information on capital punishment, especially its effects on psychological health;

• protect the rights and promote the welfare of vulnerable individuals especially against police and prosecutorial violations of judicial procedures;

• conduct psychological research on alternative maximal sanctions and therapeutic dimensions of judicial processes for victims, offenders, and their loved ones; and

• develop programs that aid in the redemptive rehabilitation of offenders, that support victims and their loved ones through and in the aftermath of judicial processes, and that foster the psychological wellbeing of these persons.

REFERENCES:

Amnesty International (2003). Something Hanging Over my Head: Child Offenders Under Sentence of Death. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA35/014/2003/en/ Amnesty International (2002). Philippines: Death penalty briefing. Retrieved from ttps://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/116000/asa35010 2002en.pdf

Andolong, I. (2016). Duterte wants to restore death penalty by hanging. News report. CNN Philippines. Retrieved at http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/05/16/Duterte-deathpenalty-by-hanging.html

Armour, M.P. and Umbreit, M.S. (2012). Assessing the impact of the ultimate penal sanction on homicide comparison: A two state comparison. Marquette law review, 96 (1). Available at http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol96/iss1/3

Carlsmith, K. M., Darley, J. M., & Robinson, P. H. (2002). Why do we punish?: Deterrence and just deserts as motives for punishment. Journal of personality and social psychology, 83(2), 284.

Kandelia, S. (2006). Incestuous rape and the death penalty in the Philippines: Psychological and legal implications. Philippine law journal, 80, 697-710.

King, M. S. (2009). Restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence and the rise of emotionally intelligent justice. Monash University Faculty of Law Legal Studies Research Paper, (2009/11), 1096. Madrid, B., H. Spader, R.Spiegel, A. Fernandez and V. Herrera (2001). Examining the mandatory death penalty for familial child perpetrators: An academic treatise for physicians.

No Author (n.d.). The death penalty worldwide. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html People v Agbayani (1998). Phil. 368.

Psychological Association of the Philippines Scientific and Page 5 of 5 Professional Ethics Commitee. (2010). Code of ethics for Philippines psychologists. Philippine Journal of Psychology, 43(2), 195-217.

Vollum, S., & Longmire, D. R. (2007). Covictims of capital murder: Statements of victims' family members and friends made at the time of execution. Violence and victims, 22(5), 601- 619.