Assalamu alaykum
While searching for jobs, I came across this. Now I am using it to spice up my application forms...
Having a psychology degree is much more then a certificate and a few letters after your name. It can change your life if you really apply yourself to learning and reeling in all the abilities and skills you acquire. So why not flaunt them!
Want to sell yourself? Try adding these!
What skills have I got ?
A common characteristic of students is their difficulty in articulating what skills they have developed through studying psychology. It is easy to assume that all graduates possess the same skills. Few disciplines though, can offer such a comprehensive list. For example, those statistics you have sweated blood over but managed to master, prove you can handle and interpret statistical data which is a useful skill in many careers.
Listed below are some of the skills a typical psychology graduate will have acquired during their degree course.
Literacy
The ability to write both succinct reports and more lengthy analyses. Psychology graduates are accustomed to writing essays which allow them to explore issues in detail, but they also become familiar with the techniques of concise writing within a pre-set format as they write up their practical reports. The ability to produce a concise report is often cited by managers as a skill they would like their management trainees to have.
Numeracy
The ability to handle and interpret statistical information. Psychology graduates are good at manipulating and summarising data, and at drawing implications from data summaries and probability statements.
Computer literacy
The ability to use a computer package, whether for word processing, statistics, or data management, and the ability to learn new ones.
Interpersonal awareness
Knowledge of the mechanisms of social communication and the potential sources of personal conflict. This makes a difference in understanding and dealing with interpersonal problems when they arise in the workplace.
Environmental awareness
Knowing how environments and organisations can directly influence people's understanding and behaviour.
Problem-solving skills
The ability to identify different strategies and approaches to solving problems. This may be on a macro-level, in applying totally different perspectives or levels of analysis to the problem, or at a more basic level, in terms of choosing appropriate methods to deal with it. Psychology graduates are brilliant at solving problems as they are trained in relevant methods from the moment they step into a laboratory.
Information-gathering skills
In seeking information on a particular topic or general area, knowing where to look, what to use and how to use it.
Critical evaluation
The ability to appraise information and situations realistically, and to anticipate problems or difficulties.
Research skills
Knowing how to go about gathering systematic information. Psychology students are trained in a number of methods Рat the least, observational, experimental and case-study techniques.
Measurement skills
Knowing how to design questionnaires and develop other measurement tools.
Perspectives
The ability to look at issues from several different points of view.
Higher-order analysis
The ability to extract general principles from immediate or concrete situations. Psychology graduates tend to be better than most people at spotting recurrent patterns or similarities between situations, and at looking at issues in terms of their underlying principles rather than becoming bogged down with the details of the immediate situation.
Pragmatism
The abilty to make the best of a non-ideal situation. Psychology students know that the perfect experiment is going to be elusive and they will have to get on with doing it as well as possible. As graduates, this tends to give them a strongly practical element.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
on the verge of giving up
Assalamu alaykum
well the time has come crunch time!
as sisters in this wounderful deen there comes a time when reality stricks you, what is expected from us by others and ourselves. These two expections usually colide and opose one another.
I had a dream, a very idealic one I know, I wanted to help the ummah in a way which I thought was very well thought out and plausible. But Qadr... its a funny thing that is, destiny, no matter how well you plan Allah always has an ulktimate plan for us all in the end.
The role of a woman can take so many roads, the one i am on now seems never ending, i havent had the chance to write on here, because i just havent had the time. I working for a muslim charity at the moment, the work feels like i am wasting my skills, but on the other hand i cant do anything else, no one else wants to employ me because of my lack of experince... well how am I going to get a job without experience and how am i going to get experince without a job! ahhh its a never ending ficious cycle. So I am stuck in two jobs which is not creativly stimulating at all....
But there is hope at the end if the tunnel.. I hope, and pray! Inshallah i will be going back to studying, to do a graduate course in counselling, so the only way toi fix a problem is to be proactive, if you want to make a chnage in your life, start by changing yourself change the attitude!
well the time has come crunch time!
as sisters in this wounderful deen there comes a time when reality stricks you, what is expected from us by others and ourselves. These two expections usually colide and opose one another.
I had a dream, a very idealic one I know, I wanted to help the ummah in a way which I thought was very well thought out and plausible. But Qadr... its a funny thing that is, destiny, no matter how well you plan Allah always has an ulktimate plan for us all in the end.
The role of a woman can take so many roads, the one i am on now seems never ending, i havent had the chance to write on here, because i just havent had the time. I working for a muslim charity at the moment, the work feels like i am wasting my skills, but on the other hand i cant do anything else, no one else wants to employ me because of my lack of experince... well how am I going to get a job without experience and how am i going to get experince without a job! ahhh its a never ending ficious cycle. So I am stuck in two jobs which is not creativly stimulating at all....
But there is hope at the end if the tunnel.. I hope, and pray! Inshallah i will be going back to studying, to do a graduate course in counselling, so the only way toi fix a problem is to be proactive, if you want to make a chnage in your life, start by changing yourself change the attitude!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Aim high! Reach high!
Assalamu alaykum
Haven't had the chance to write on here, because basically the psychologist in me has yet to have a chance in the big wide world,... that is til now!
Alhamdulailah I have the opportunity to start some volunteer work, but getting here has been a journey in its self. Graduates know that its always going to be a case of climbing the ladder in careers, and the goals of what you want to achieve always seem to chance and you always want more then you have. The trick is to make those first steps on that ladder and make it a firm and one which will not make you fall flat on your face.... had too much experience of that!
I never knew just having a degree isn't enough in Psychology, well a bit late now... I wounder why no one told me, but then again how would they, there is no real network system for under gradates to mix and mingle of those in the high power jobs ones which we strive and aim for.
The only way we can succeed is to persist in our dream and to have the right intention and motivation, you never know who else you may be motivating just by you striving for what you want.
Haven't had the chance to write on here, because basically the psychologist in me has yet to have a chance in the big wide world,... that is til now!
Alhamdulailah I have the opportunity to start some volunteer work, but getting here has been a journey in its self. Graduates know that its always going to be a case of climbing the ladder in careers, and the goals of what you want to achieve always seem to chance and you always want more then you have. The trick is to make those first steps on that ladder and make it a firm and one which will not make you fall flat on your face.... had too much experience of that!
I never knew just having a degree isn't enough in Psychology, well a bit late now... I wounder why no one told me, but then again how would they, there is no real network system for under gradates to mix and mingle of those in the high power jobs ones which we strive and aim for.
The only way we can succeed is to persist in our dream and to have the right intention and motivation, you never know who else you may be motivating just by you striving for what you want.
I always say to those who just want to give up on heir degree why did you start doing this in the first place? We have tendency to have very short memories and very fluid intention when it comes to seeking knowledge. At the end of the day we wish to do something that we are passionate about. Think about what is it that made you want to do a degree, or more generally what mad you begin to study what you doing now.
I myself wanted just throw in the towel in my second year, but Alhamdulilah through the wisdom and guidance of firstly Allah then some precious sisters Allah enabled me to stick through it more outstandingly actually pass and get a degree, Walhamdulilah!
"Actions are but by intention and every man shall have only that which he intended..."
(Bukhari and Muslim)
The more you put into something the more you will get out of it.
One day Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah"
(Tirmidhi).
The tighter you tie your camel the more likely you will get that what you strive for.
What ever you choose, choose well the and put your trust in Allah, He knows all of our affairs, that which has already passed and the ones to be.
"When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah" (Quran 3: 159).
Remember the fundamentals of seeking knowledge firstly to have the correct intention;
* Seeking the pleasure of Allah and making our studying an act of worship in of itself
* Removing the ignorance from ourselves
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Golden 15
In his book "Tibb an Nabawi" (trans. Medicine of The Prophet by Jalal Abual Rub, Darussalam publishers) Ibn Qayyim rahimullah says the following at the end of the chapter
"The Prophet's Guidance on Treating Sadness, Grief and Depression."
"These cures that we mention are of 15 types. If they are not sufficient to remove sadness, depression and grief, then the sickness has become chronic and needs to be completely removed and dissipated.
1 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Lordship
2 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Worship
3 - The belief in the creed of Tawheed
4 - Praising Allaah for not dealing with His slave with injustice and for not punishing him without a reason
5 - The slave's affirming that it is he who has committed the injustice
6 - Pleading to Allaah by the most beloved methods to Him, by His Names, Attributes such as al-'Hay (The Ever Living), Al Qayyum (Who Sustains everything and everyone)
7 - Depending and relying on Allaah Alone for everything
8 - The slave affirms that his hope is only in Allaah
9 - Acquiring true dependence on Allaah and relating all matters to Him, while admitting that the slave's forelock is in His Hands Alone and that He does with it whatever He will. Also admitting that Allaah's decision on the slave will certainly come to pass and that His judgement is certainly just.
10 - The slave's heart should enjoy the gardens of the Qur'an and should make the Qur'an just like the spring of pure water to the animals. Also the slave should use the light of the Qur'an to shatter the darkness of desires and lusts. The Qur'an should be one's companion when no one else is present; the comfort that relieves every type of calamity and the cure that discards every illness that attacks the slave's heart. In short, the Qur'an should be the remover of sadness and the end of depression and grief.
11 - Turning to istighfaar, seeking forgiveness from Allaah
12 - Repenting to Allaah
13 - Performing jihad in Allaah's Cause
14 - Performing prayer
15 - Relating all power and strength to He Who grasps them in His Hands."
"The Prophet's Guidance on Treating Sadness, Grief and Depression."
"These cures that we mention are of 15 types. If they are not sufficient to remove sadness, depression and grief, then the sickness has become chronic and needs to be completely removed and dissipated.
1 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Lordship
2 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Worship
3 - The belief in the creed of Tawheed
4 - Praising Allaah for not dealing with His slave with injustice and for not punishing him without a reason
5 - The slave's affirming that it is he who has committed the injustice
6 - Pleading to Allaah by the most beloved methods to Him, by His Names, Attributes such as al-'Hay (The Ever Living), Al Qayyum (Who Sustains everything and everyone)
7 - Depending and relying on Allaah Alone for everything
8 - The slave affirms that his hope is only in Allaah
9 - Acquiring true dependence on Allaah and relating all matters to Him, while admitting that the slave's forelock is in His Hands Alone and that He does with it whatever He will. Also admitting that Allaah's decision on the slave will certainly come to pass and that His judgement is certainly just.
10 - The slave's heart should enjoy the gardens of the Qur'an and should make the Qur'an just like the spring of pure water to the animals. Also the slave should use the light of the Qur'an to shatter the darkness of desires and lusts. The Qur'an should be one's companion when no one else is present; the comfort that relieves every type of calamity and the cure that discards every illness that attacks the slave's heart. In short, the Qur'an should be the remover of sadness and the end of depression and grief.
11 - Turning to istighfaar, seeking forgiveness from Allaah
12 - Repenting to Allaah
13 - Performing jihad in Allaah's Cause
14 - Performing prayer
15 - Relating all power and strength to He Who grasps them in His Hands."
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Course ~ Islamic Counselling
Assalamu alaykum there is a Islamic Counselling course which looks very interesting for those who wish to broden their carer oppotunities or who wish to further their understanding in this field. Inshallah I plan to go, looks very useful.
Dear Brother/Sister,
Asalaam alaikum waRahmatullahi waBarakatahu,
Islam is both a religion and a culture that influences the life of its followers. It is necessary to emphasise the spiritual needs of clients as part of effective, whole person care. Research has shown that people from ethnic minority groups can experience difficulty accessing services (e.g. poor religious and cultural understanding by service staff). The Muslim community has become increasingly aware of the importance of mental health issues, the need for effective communication in family networks, relationships within the ummah and relationships with non-Muslims.
In response to the above, MIHE has developed the Certificate in Islamic Counselling as a follow on from the Introduction to Islamic Counselling short courses. The certificate course provides students with an opportunity to acquire both the practical experience and the theoretical understanding required to use Islamic Counselling skills competently in an Islamic work-related context or a voluntary helping capacity as well as those whose work includes a specific counselling type role.
MIHE are working towards accreditation by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
MIHE have successfully ran other short courses such as Training of Muslim Chaplains, Diploma in Islamic Jurisprudence, Diploma in Islamic Finance and Introduction to Islamic Counselling.
If you are interested in attending the course then please complete an application form which can be downloaded from our website http://www.mihe.org.uk/ and send it to the MIHE address as soon as possible.
.
Jazakalakhayrun for your help and please do remember us in your dua’s.
Yours sincerely,
Ghazala Sadiq
Short Course Administrator
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Treating Distress and Grief
Assalamu alaykum
Subhanallah, Glory be to Allah, we have been blessed to be in the folds of a deen, a religion that has come with a cure for everything. If we only try to seek the answers in the words of Allah we will not be disapointed. Depression is one of those hot topics which I have been asked alot about and its something that I havent got all the asnwers to myself, hence we look into the gift of Islam for our answers o those life long questions. How to deal with life!
The following is the basic steps we should all be trying to strive for, to keep us going in days of trials and for distress and grief. Know that what we go through in this life is nothing to those trials and tribulations of those before us. However Allah test our pios predesessors in a different way to how He tests us. Saying that we all have the same remedy which can be found if only we open our eyes to see and open our hearts to feel.
Wassalam
Writings of Immam Ibn al-Qayyim on Treating Distress and Grief:
Following this discussion of cures, we will pause to look briefly at the list written by Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) in which he lists fifteen kinds of remedies through which Allaah may alleviate distress and grief:
1. Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (Unity of Divine Lordship)
2. Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (Unity of Divinity)
3. Unity of belief, i.e. Tawheed al-Asmaa’ wa’l-Siffaat (Unity of the Divine Names and Attributes).
4. To declare that Allaah is far above mistreating His slave or punishing him without any cause on the part of the slave himself.
5. Admission on the part of the slave that he is the wrongdoer.
6. Beseeching Allaah by the best of things, which are His Names and Attributes. Among the most comprehensive in meaning of His Names and Attributes are the Names al-Hayyu (the Ever-Living), al-Qayoom (the Eternal).
7. Seeking the help of Allaah Alone.
8. Putting one’s hope in Allaah.
9. Putting one’s trust in Allaah and handing over all one’s affairs to Him, recognizing that one’s forelock is in His hand, that Allaah runs all one’s affairs as He wills, that His command is ever executed and that His decree is just.
10. Reading Qur’aan and pondering its meaning, seeking consolation in it for all disasters, and seeking a cure in it for all diseases of the heart (i.e., spiritual or psychological diseases) for it washes away grief and heals his distress and anxiety.
11. Seeking the forgiveness of Allaah.
12. Repentance
13. Jihaad (striving for the sake of Allaah).
14. Salaat (prayer)
15. Admitting that one has no power or strength at all, and attributing them to the One Who holds them in His hand.
Subhanallah, Glory be to Allah, we have been blessed to be in the folds of a deen, a religion that has come with a cure for everything. If we only try to seek the answers in the words of Allah we will not be disapointed. Depression is one of those hot topics which I have been asked alot about and its something that I havent got all the asnwers to myself, hence we look into the gift of Islam for our answers o those life long questions. How to deal with life!
The following is the basic steps we should all be trying to strive for, to keep us going in days of trials and for distress and grief. Know that what we go through in this life is nothing to those trials and tribulations of those before us. However Allah test our pios predesessors in a different way to how He tests us. Saying that we all have the same remedy which can be found if only we open our eyes to see and open our hearts to feel.
Wassalam
Writings of Immam Ibn al-Qayyim on Treating Distress and Grief:
Following this discussion of cures, we will pause to look briefly at the list written by Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) in which he lists fifteen kinds of remedies through which Allaah may alleviate distress and grief:
1. Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (Unity of Divine Lordship)
2. Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (Unity of Divinity)
3. Unity of belief, i.e. Tawheed al-Asmaa’ wa’l-Siffaat (Unity of the Divine Names and Attributes).
4. To declare that Allaah is far above mistreating His slave or punishing him without any cause on the part of the slave himself.
5. Admission on the part of the slave that he is the wrongdoer.
6. Beseeching Allaah by the best of things, which are His Names and Attributes. Among the most comprehensive in meaning of His Names and Attributes are the Names al-Hayyu (the Ever-Living), al-Qayoom (the Eternal).
7. Seeking the help of Allaah Alone.
8. Putting one’s hope in Allaah.
9. Putting one’s trust in Allaah and handing over all one’s affairs to Him, recognizing that one’s forelock is in His hand, that Allaah runs all one’s affairs as He wills, that His command is ever executed and that His decree is just.
10. Reading Qur’aan and pondering its meaning, seeking consolation in it for all disasters, and seeking a cure in it for all diseases of the heart (i.e., spiritual or psychological diseases) for it washes away grief and heals his distress and anxiety.
11. Seeking the forgiveness of Allaah.
12. Repentance
13. Jihaad (striving for the sake of Allaah).
14. Salaat (prayer)
15. Admitting that one has no power or strength at all, and attributing them to the One Who holds them in His hand.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Can Muslims be affected by psychological problems?
Question:
Is it possible for a Muslim to be afflicted with psychological problems? (Because some people say that a Muslim cannot be affected by psychological problems).
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly man may be afflicted with psychological problems such as worries about the future and grief over the past. Psychological problems affect the body more than physical problems do. We should know that the worries and distress that affect a person are among the things that expiate his sins and reduce the burden of sin; if he is patient and seeks reward with Allaah, he will be rewarded for that.
Treating these problems in the ways prescribed in Islam is more effective than treating them with physical medicine, as is well known.
One of the treatments prescribed in Islam is to recite the du’aa’s narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to relieve worries and distress, for example, the saheeh hadeeth narrated from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him):
“There is no-one who is afflicted by distress and grief, and says:
‘Allaahumma inni ‘abduka ibn ‘abdika ibn amatija naasyati bi yadika, maada fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa’uka. As’aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw ista’tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghayb ‘indaka an taj’al al-Qur’aana al-‘Azeema rabee’ qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa’ huzni wa dhihaab hammi
(O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Holy Qur’aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),’ but Allaah will take away his distress and grief.” This is one of the remedies prescribed in sharee’ah. One may also say: “Laa ilaaha illa anta, subhaanaka inni kuntu min al-zaalimeen (There is no god but You, glorified (and exalted) are You, truly I have been of the wrongdoers).” [cf. al-Anbiya’ 21:87]
Another form of treatment is ruqya with which a person may treat himself – which is better. The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do ruqyah for himself by reciting al-Mi’wadhatayn (the last two soorahs of the Qur’aan) when he went to sleep, then he would wipe his face and whatever he could of his body. Or a person may go to someone whose religious commitment he trusts to do ruqyah for him.
If he wants to know more, he can refer to what the scholars have written about du’aa’ such as al-Waabil al-Sayyib by Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Kalim al-Tayyib by Shaykh al-Islam, al-Adhkaar by al-Nawawi, and Zaad al-Ma’aad by Ibn al-Qayyim.
From the fatwas of al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, Kitaab Fataawa Islamiyyah, vol. 4, p. 465-467.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Is it possible for a Muslim to be afflicted with psychological problems? (Because some people say that a Muslim cannot be affected by psychological problems).
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly man may be afflicted with psychological problems such as worries about the future and grief over the past. Psychological problems affect the body more than physical problems do. We should know that the worries and distress that affect a person are among the things that expiate his sins and reduce the burden of sin; if he is patient and seeks reward with Allaah, he will be rewarded for that.
Treating these problems in the ways prescribed in Islam is more effective than treating them with physical medicine, as is well known.
One of the treatments prescribed in Islam is to recite the du’aa’s narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to relieve worries and distress, for example, the saheeh hadeeth narrated from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him):
“There is no-one who is afflicted by distress and grief, and says:
‘Allaahumma inni ‘abduka ibn ‘abdika ibn amatija naasyati bi yadika, maada fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadaa’uka. As’aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw ‘allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw ista’tharta bihi fi ‘ilm il-ghayb ‘indaka an taj’al al-Qur’aana al-‘Azeema rabee’ qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa’ huzni wa dhihaab hammi
(O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Holy Qur’aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),’ but Allaah will take away his distress and grief.” This is one of the remedies prescribed in sharee’ah. One may also say: “Laa ilaaha illa anta, subhaanaka inni kuntu min al-zaalimeen (There is no god but You, glorified (and exalted) are You, truly I have been of the wrongdoers).” [cf. al-Anbiya’ 21:87]
Another form of treatment is ruqya with which a person may treat himself – which is better. The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to do ruqyah for himself by reciting al-Mi’wadhatayn (the last two soorahs of the Qur’aan) when he went to sleep, then he would wipe his face and whatever he could of his body. Or a person may go to someone whose religious commitment he trusts to do ruqyah for him.
If he wants to know more, he can refer to what the scholars have written about du’aa’ such as al-Waabil al-Sayyib by Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Kalim al-Tayyib by Shaykh al-Islam, al-Adhkaar by al-Nawawi, and Zaad al-Ma’aad by Ibn al-Qayyim.
From the fatwas of al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, Kitaab Fataawa Islamiyyah, vol. 4, p. 465-467.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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