Yvonne Foong: Fighting NF

Aside from academic texts, I’ve accumulated a good number of books to take my mind away. I could never find the time to read them throughout college semesters. Now that I am on holiday, they found their use.

The first things I must do as an aspiring Psychologist is to deal with my own issues, to avoid the process of counter-transference when working with patients in the future. Reading case studies alone can conjure so much repressed memories and emotions. I understood what had caused some of my undesirable behaviors as well as the behaviors and actions of my parents. By understanding, it is hoped that we would be able to resolve our own conflicts in order to treat people with an objective mind.

But these overpowering emotions can prevent me from reading further. That’s when I find my other books – my leisure reads – coming in handy. They help in giving myself a break.Otherwise, a brisk neighborhood walk is a safe alternative.

This will also positively impact my ability to parent in the future. Many of my own issues were the reverberations of my parents’ behavior, and their behavior were the products of their parents’ behavior. One generation living out the unfulfilled wishes and hidden unconscious of the past generation. This ought to stop. I would hate for my own children to live with what I had to.

So this is my New Year’s wish. I wish to train myself into a congruent individual for the helping profession.