Running head: FIRST REFLECTIVE PAPER 1

First Reflective Paper

Mando Ozuna

University of Phoenix

Ethical & Legal Issues in Marriage & Family Therapy

MFCC 551

Sylvia White

September 21, 2010

 First Reflective Paper

A career is usually a priority in an individual’s life when approaching graduation from

high school or college. In my case, the decision to become a Marriage and Family Therapist took

a bit longer to envision. My prior goals were to work in the law enforcement field with

aspirations to retire as a detective or a high paid administrative position. Soon those aspirations

would lead me to a fork in the road where I would ultimately make the decision to become an

MFT.

I graduated in April 2009 with a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice Administration

with dreams of becoming a police officer and making my entire family proud of me. I was 36

years old and did not realize the impact of becoming a police officer would have on my well-

being. I enrolled in the Sheriff’s Academy in January 2009, graduated in April 2009 two days

after graduating from University of Phoenix, and began working in the Lerdo Jail under

supervised training. I realized that while all of my co-workers focused on security and inmate

disobedience; I was looking through the inmates’ booking records and wondering what their

lives were like growing up. I would watch their behaviors in the cells and out in the yards to

study their social interactions and wondered who they were when they were out in society.

I was fascinated by the lifestyles they lived and could not help to wonder where they

would be if proper intervention had lead them in the right direction. It is this fascination that I

believe will make me an effective therapist and provides me with the motivation to exceed my

future goals in therapy.

At about the same time that I was at this crossroad; I was also dealing with trying to have

my 18-month-old son assessed for Autism or Aspergers. Because I was a parent trying to refer

my son, the resources that I was dealing with acted very negatively to my requests and made me
feel guilty as a parent because I began to believe that maybe I was just over-generalizing his

condition. It took me over a year to have my son assessed and diagnosed. This was very

frustrating to me because I believe that earlier intervention for my son could have benefited him

so much more. During this ordeal, I remember wishing for a guardian angel to stand beside me

and advocate for me because I was ignorant to the protocols that I should have taken. This

problem fed my ambitions to become an MFT even more and I hope that someday I can be an

advocate for parents and families with children diagnosed with Autism and Aspergers. I can only

imagine how many frustrated families in the world are suffering the same ordeal that I suffered at

the expense of the child’s normal development and intervention process.

In addition, I have a personal goal to get therapy to deal with my own issues from the

past that need addressing. With a divorce fresh in my life, I need to gain the tools I need to

prevent any counter transference in the future with clients in the same situation. I am concerned

because in a prior class, I displayed a great deal of counter transference during a role-play

session and I was unaware until the facilitator brought it to my attention. Therefore, I plan to

attend my own therapy sessions as a goal to resolve this issue.

Just recently, I have began working as a substance abuse counselor and I have had the

privilege to gain much experience in individual and group counseling that I can apply to my

future goals. Additionally, I perform assessments, treatment plans, and interventions to help

clients gain knowledge, trust, and skills to help them overcome their addictions.

I find counseling to be a rewarding career and hope that I can help as many people as

possible throughout my career. With the experienced teachers at University of Phoenix and the

experience I am gaining as a substance abuse counselor; I believe that I can be an effective and

successful MFT.