I want to study psychology and family therapy to help people who love each other cope with life’s difficulties. Many families have a habit of hushing up conflicts because they are afraid of being judged by friends and especially relatives, particularly parents who are no longer young. These conflicts are often associated with substance addictions; for example, some people drink a lot of alcohol, common among conservative families whose age has crossed the border. Family therapy and working with addictions are two of my interests that can merge into the practical field of helping people.
In my endeavors, I draw on the theoretical work of psychologists such as Alfred Adler, Kurt Lewin, and Murray Bowen. Early on, I was interested in the creation of Karen Horney when I was fascinated by the psychology of child development. I believe that my initial training is quite enough to define my future destiny in the field of science clearly. I have studied the neurobiological aspects of addictions superficially, and now I understand the mechanism of dopamine production in the brain from psychostimulants. According to modern research, in family psychotherapy, the genetic aspect is vital (Bartkus, 2018, 1:08:30-1:19:51). Many people who are addicted do not realize that they or their spouses will influence their children. If the specialist explains this in detail to them, in my opinion, people will have more motivation to fight addictions by any means.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are huge social problems, not just the drama of one single family. Often members of such families endure severe stigma at school, especially during adolescence, when peers tend to be violent. In middle school, I was in a class with a boy humiliated by his peers because his father came to school drunk several times to pick him up. He smelled of fumes, and the children turned away from him and ran away, laughing, and the next day they made fun of the boy. Now I ask myself many questions about why they behaved this way and why his family lived this way. I do not know much of the information, but it makes me look for a possible truth. By combining personal examples and initial training in psychology and neuroscience, I strive for even more knowledge to help people.
Reference
Bartkus, W. (2018). Overview of addictive behaviors and introduction to family [Video]. YouTube. Web.