Growing a Library

Today we made our semi-annual trip to Powell's Books in Portland to buy, buy, buy, buy all sorts of books. I was able to find a nice assortment of books I hope will be useful at my internship. I actually bought a Dr. Phil book because I liked the activities it had inside of it. I got a lot of workbooks with the intention of making photocopies and have clients do the "assignment".

I spent a lot of time in the General Parenting section and little time in the Psychology section because I've found that parenting books are better for addressing specific behavioral issues and then providing a realistic set of actions to take regarding that behavior. The professional books are all theory based and don't provide a "how-to" approach to dealing with the behavior.

I also found two really cool books regarding ADD and I plan to use the books to provide the ubiquitous "psychoeducation" to kids and teens regarding the condition. It looks like both books offer ways to cope with the condition and gives practical strategies to manage it.

I'm quickly learning that my job as "therapist" in many ways is also teacher because I often am teaching social skills, communication skills, coping skills, and so on, and then also teaching what is typical and normal behavior, explaining what causes certain behaviors, etc.

Interesting note: conflict resolution is found in the teaching section and there are books addressing how to teach this to children in the classroom, but I couldn't find any books in the child psychology section. There may be a gap in the literature available and that would mean that I could write a book! I'm always looking for the book-writing angle because I think that's how a therapist will ever make money appropriate for the amount spent on getting the degree.

What's freaky about all of the book-buying today is that I went with my book wishlist and only got one or two off the list of 88! Which means that I'll still eventually buy more books. I am growing a libray one book at a time.