Abstract 

The purpose of the capstone rationale essay is to document the learning outcomes by category for the Applied Human Behavior program at Northern Arizona University. The main topics of discussion are Human Systems and Diversity, Practice and Intervention, Community Engagement and Responsibility, Professional Preparedness, and Personal Values and Development. The artifact table will direct the reader to the specific area related to each discussion topic.

Introduction

For years leading up to my marriage in 2012, I always had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to do foster care. You often hear stories of those who hear “the voice of God” telling them what to do. As a Christian, I call it the same, but am aware that not everyone believes the same. For the sake of the rationale that I am using, we will call it God’s voice, telling me that I need to do foster care. It only took me and my husband 5+ years, after a long infertility struggle ending in one last ditch attempt at in vitro fertilization resulting in a miscarriage, to finally turn to adoption from foster care to build our family. 

Our first placement came to us under divine circumstances, and if I had the time, I would certainly tell the story, as it is one of my favorite stories to tell. For the sake of this project, I will leave it as divine intervention. He was meant to be ours from the moment I saw him, actually, even before that. Within a year of first meeting this little boy, he was adopted and ours forever.

I have never been quiet about the struggles that we went through with this boy. Trauma, drug exposure, neglect, needles, autism, epilepsy, speech and language…. The list of diagnoses grew by the day and the behaviors that came along with them became more intense and less manageable as the list grew. I cried out for help from every outlet possible, to which I got no response and no one would listen. I finally decided on EMDR therapy, that I had heard of from a training I did to uphold my foster care license, paid for out of our pocket, and after the 4th session, we saw a huge breakthrough in our son’s behaviors. 

As a result of the changes I saw, and the relief my family obtained from the changes, I developed a drive, a passion, for this therapy type. I wanted to learn more. I shouted from the rooftops about it and offered it as a suggestion to every person I came into contact with that struggled with their child who had a history of trauma. However, that wasn’t enough. 

I decided that I needed to go back to school and get my degree in behavioral health, to eventually obtain a master’s degree and become certified in EMDR therapy, to be able to help other children, other families, achieve the relief that my family did from the therapy. I enrolled in school and finished my associate’s degree in behavioral health sciences, and went on to work towards my bachelor’s degree in Applied Human Behavior. I will be moving on to obtain my master’s degree after we move next year. 

With the degree I am in the process of obtaining, I will continue to work as a high needs case manager in the behavioral health field. My focus, my passion, has always been children, so I am working with children, adopted and fosters, those who struggle with trauma and other behavioral health concerns. I intend to continue helping the most vulnerable population out there. My long term goals will bring me into advocacy work to rewrite the laws associated with foster care, focusing on giving foster children a voice where they currently don’t have one, while helping heal their trauma as a licensed clinician that specializes in trauma and neglect. I have big dreams now, bigger than I ever initially imagined, and I have to recognize my son as the driving force behind my passion.

Through the Applied Human Behavior program, I have obtained additional knowledge about many different areas in the field, and alongside the knowledge that I have obtained from my own personal experiences, I have developed some skills that  I have already begun to use while working as a case manager. I strive to learn more and soak in all that I can, and I look forward to what my future holds in this field. For now, the AHB program has helped create a solid foundation as a basis to move toward my future as a clinician.

Human Systems and Diversity

The first learning outcome from this program that I would like to focus on is Human Systems and Diversity. As a result of the coursework in this skillset, I have developed a deeper understanding for the diversity of humans and their familial structures. The literature review of environmental foundations (1.1) helped me understand how to apply historical perspectives of current societal concerns and determine how they affect the functioning of the family or community. The topic of discussion used was that of the effects of social media on society and how the mental health of the community is directly affected by the unrealistic expectations placed on teenage girls as a direct result of social media. This specific concern is not going away anytime soon, but it is certainly an ever-evolving problem that lingers over the children of the world. Being able to recognize the signs that youth is struggling and identify ways to help them learn to cope will be an important skill to know as I move further into my career.

AHB 390, one of the first courses I took in this program, taught the importance of understanding cultural differences within the workplace and how it is important to make sure that as an employer, we are acknowledging the differences that people share and incorporate those differences into the structure of the business model. The Organizational Diversity Initiatives final (1.2) taught me how to do just that. The assignment was to find a business within the human behavior field and determine ways that they could incorporate more cultural awareness into their website or business model, and create a proposal on how to implement these changes over a period of time. This is extremely relevant due to the fact that every business tends to leave out at least one cultural type, language barriers are always a concern everywhere we go, and it is still a new concept of how to address these concerns and what is best practice to promote and implement the changes. 

One common concern for all areas of this field is ethics and laws associated with diversity. The Ethics Essay (1.3) is a valuable assignment because it helped me learn and understand the importance of remaining ethical and following guidelines and laws while working with clients or patients. Protecting their privacy, making sure that I have their best interests in mind, and always remembering to do no harm, are all important pieces that a professional in the human services field must adhere to. In some cases, the government has laws that we must abide by. However, in others, while there may not be a law that is broken, we would still be held to the standard of our different codes of ethics to protect our clients best interests.

Practice and Intervention

This topic holds the highest level of importance to me in this essay. The purpose of practice and intervention is the implementation of the skills that we have learned and how to use them effectively.  The research paper on biological foundations (2.2) from AHB 365 was written on the effects of autism spectrum disorder on the brain, the behaviors that are associated with ASD, and the potential limitations that a person who suffers from the effects of ASD may experience in their lifetime. The paper encompasses the social, biological, and environmental effects on the human behaviors associated with response to those who have ASD. As I mentioned in my introduction, my son has ASD and I see how it affects him and those around us. There are many different variations of spectrum disorder, and for that reason, every person diagnosed will have different symptoms. It is important to be able to recognize that there are many different forms of ASD and that everyone will have different symptoms to manage.

In AHB 450, we discussed the long term effects of trauma on a person and how it can change someone’s view on how they live their lives. Trauma can be ongoing or one time, and each variation has a different response. It is also important to recognize that everyone’s responses are going to be different, as we are all different people and see things in our own ways. The creation of the genogram and genogram analysis (2.3) is an excellent tool that I was taught to help explain and understand generational trauma and patterns. As an example, family history of sexual abuse can effect outcomes on many generations as a response to how the abused member handles the abuse. They may turn to substances to mask their pain. They may become abusers themselves and continue the cycle. They may uproot their entire existence and move away from everyone they have ever known as a defense. The genogram is a skill that we can use with our future clients to help them see if there are any commonalities in their family history to help explain why they may be struggling.

The case study (2.4) that was completed in the spring ethics and documentation class is an excellent source for case planning and management. When a new client initiates the need for care, they must work through an intake, and with the information that is documented, the case manager comes up with a case study or case plan for care. This is important because being able to create a viable treatment plan for a client is detrimental to the overall success of the client’s treatment. Working with the client to identify their struggles based on body language and responses is an important skill to be able to determine what the best approach for treatment will be.

One other important piece is recognizing the scope of practice and applying rational ethics, which the Ethics Discussions (2.6) focused on. It is unethical to work outside of your capability because it can potentially do harm to others. As a case manager, I must not make attempts to “fix” a client, as I am not trained in certain areas and that is outside the scope of my ability. However, I can suggest therapy for a client to learn some coping skills which a therapist is trained in teaching how to implement. Discussions about these topics opened up the conversations about the importance of not stepping outside of boundaries and staying within what we are taught to do.

Community Engagement and Responsibility

The next topic for this essay is community engagement and responsibility. While I have not taken the courses associated with the selected topics yet, I have some experiences with the topics that are being discussed that can be related to the topics. 

I think it is important to understand the macro/mezzo levels of globalization and how certain topics can affect everyone on different levels. The topic that is very relevant at this time is that of the coronavirus, COVID-19, that has become a worldwide pandemic and is affecting everyone throughout. On the macro level, the pandemic reportedly began in China and has since been spread world wide, causing global panic and shut down. On the mezzo level, the United States and individual communities within states are shut down according to their own conditions. Schools are shut down in the US, each state holding their own response for the amount of time that it will be closed. Jobs have a work-from-home order that must be adhered to, but each employer has their own response level to how long or what that will look like for their specific organization. 

On the micro level, each family is handing their quarantine in their own way. Some families are spending a lot of time cooped up inside, some are spending more time outside but apart. Some families are cooking every day, where others are ordering their meals for pick up or delivery from an agency. However, the community is responding according to what is expected and everyone is in the same situation all over the world. The worldwide population is depending on each other to try and flatten the curve and reduce the number of reported cases of the COVID-19 virus. The world is working together to achieve a common goal.

My own experiences in this pandemic will help me in the future of my career if we ever need to come together for a common goal, learning from this maco-level response to a worldwide issue shows how we can work together to achieve a need. When I become a therapist and then begin advocacy for foster care, the common goal is giving children a voice, and the way is through coming together and working as a team to achieve it.

Professional Preparedness

To help prepare us for working in the field, AHB 450 had an assignment where we were to pick two separate trauma training sessions online, write about what we learned, then discuss it. The Crisis and Trauma Training Discussion (4.1) directed us to do just that. The two trainings that I participated in online were about crossover youth and youth transitioning in and out of foster care. As I have mentioned before, this group of clients are very special to me, as I have grown my family out of foster care and I see so many areas of opportunity within the community to help create a better experience for these children. Crossover youth are those who are at risk of crossing over into the juvenile detention and legal side of the system from the simple foster care side. The idea is to help recognize the signs that a youth is at risk of crossing over and getting preventative care in place to help keep the child from getting into trouble with the system. This topic was important for me as I have had to implement some of the skills I learned in the training in my current position as a high needs case manager, some of my clients are acting out in ways that may put them at higher risk of going to jail. I am working with the client’s team to come up with solutions to help prevent the client from crossing over.

Another important piece of professional preparedness is being able to understand the importance of social science research and how to implement best practices. Discussion board postings (4.3) from AHB 305 were important as I learned the process of conducting a research project and how to piece together the data that was collected from different sources. Moving into grad school and the eventual conduction of my own research project will give me the opportunity to utilize the skills that I learned during this course. The discussions that took place during this course will remind me of the topics that I learned and when to implement the skills.

As I move into a more clinical setting, the skills that I obtained in AHB 425 on writing effective SOAP notes and documentation practice (4.4) will be critical. Effective documentation is key to the success of the client in treatment. Learning to document only what’s necessary and not all of the fluff helps keep the clinician subjective rather than developing a personal opinion of the client's responses. It is also important to remain subjective as to document only what can be proven, not an opinion of what is happening. One must remain ethical in what is written to protect the agency or clinician if ever any of the notes would need to be used in court. Self preservation is necessary to ensure that I will not be subject to scrutiny if ever my notes would be subpoenaed. 

Personal Values and Development

One of the most effective assignments given to offer an experience was the wellness, abstinence or acquisition project (5.1). My personal experience was to give up social media for 30 days and document the changes that I had to make and interventions that I utilized to distract myself from the loss of an outlet. The idea was to give the illusion of how one who is going through drug or alcohol withdrawal may be feeling as time goes on. This experience was paramount for me, as I have never struggled with drugs or alcohol, so I do not have any experience with quitting. The experience also showed that anything can be an addiction, and everyone will have their own response to it. 

I also feel like the experience with the pandemic would be applicable to this topic of exploration of self reflection, personal and professional values, and group activities. Similar to the abstinence project, as a society right now we are abstaining from life as we know it. Society is abstaining from social contact and face to face communication. We are abstaining from parties and other social gatherings and having to change every aspect of our lives, and this is a huge opportunity to self reflect, reevaluate personal and professional values and explore our way of life. Through social distancing and the ever changing expectations associated with that, we are having to come up with new outlets and ways to experience our lives.

The final piece is self evaluation (5.2) from AHB 340. The purpose of this assignment was to reflect on personal goals for future study and how the course content would be relevant in the future. For this course, the topic was deviance in society and the different types of deviance. It is important to be able to self reflect on how these topics will be relevant in my future as a clinician or advocate. Deviance is a huge part of society, especially when considering what is expected of people and the idea that many of us do not want to be told what to do. Deviance is the driving force for drug usage, indecent exposure, assault or abuse, or proving someone wrong. The reflection essay that was written from this course supports all of that and shows how deviance affects society as a whole. For these reasons, I felt it was important to include this piece as the final assignment in this rationale essay.

Conclusion

As I move further into my career in the human services field, being able to look back and reflect on the experience I have learned from the Applied Human Behavior program will be paramount to my future success. I truly believe these courses were designed with my career in mind, the program built to give small pieces of perspective into different areas, and allow me to determine what my specialty might be moving forward. I appreciate the knowledge that I have obtained through this program and look forward to being able to apply what I have learned in my future experiences as a case manager, clinician, advocate, foster parent, friend, and proud productive member of an ever changing society. I believe I will continue to be an asset to the community and feel blessed to be able to reflect on my experiences and know that I am now a holder of a bachelor’s degree. 

The information that I have obtained has taught me to remain subjective in my documentation, state only the facts, do no harm to others, and act with the best interests of the community in mind. I have an obligation to protect those that I work with, and this program has taught me how to practice within the scope of those obligations. With the information I have learned, I will be able to treat my clients effectively, offer the support that they need to overcome their struggles, and help them obtain the confidence that they deserve to be productive and grow in their lives. As a result of my learning, I now hold the responsibility to treat my clients with the dignity and respect that they deserve and have obtained the knowledge and skills to be able to do so. I am ethically responsible to practice my skills with the best of my knowledge and keep the best interests of my clients in mind. I appreciate that responsibility and feel blessed to be able use the skills I have learned.