Technology post 2: Building Your Connected Learning Community

    This chapter helped me begin such as "how do I build a personal learning network," and "How do I make sure I am connecting with he right people?" I think mapping out a "blueprint," and setting goals is a great place to start. Specifying new counceling techniques is and making sure I am up-to-date with resources for my clients and sharpening my relationship with peers so that we can support one another would be good goals to begin with. Next, leveraging social media platforms in order to expand my outreach and obtain information that supports my goals will help me stay motivated. Following organizations such as the American Concealing Association can help me stay up to date with the latest information. Linkedin is a great way to connect with other professionals in my field. There are also any groups on Facebook that I can utilize to see what other professionals are doing. If I have questions along the way of opening my practice, this may be very helpful. 

                                                                 

The chapter suggests getting a mentor. I think this is an extremely bright idea. I would need to make sure they were someone who has reached goals I would also like to reach. I would need to look up to them and have a high level of respect for them both personally and professionally. I do believe it is beneficial to take advice from those who you look up too. If the purpose of opening my practice is to help people with trauma, then I want to mentor from someone who also has successfully opened their own practice and specializes in techniques that are geared toward helping people with Pose Traumatic Stress Disorder such as EMDR therapy. I can imagine that attending conferences, webinars, and continuing education courses are all ways to learn from experts. There are so many online options these days it could me something I can do online. One thing other professionals in the field of counseling have done is create podcasts or blogs. Learning how to create a blog has been beneficial because it is a tool I will continue to use as a licensed clinician.

                                                 

As a Massage Therapist, I have to take 22 hours of continuing education courses every other year upon the renewal of my license. I have already looked into learning platforms for CE's for clinical mental health specialists and Coursera, EdX, and Udemy are a few of the recommended ones. These platforms will help. me stay up to date with the latest trends as a business owner and as a mental health clinician. My husband has already subscribed to a few magazines that are for counselors. I find them very interesting and educational. I suppose subscribing to other magazines and news letters is another way to stay connected. I feel that the most difficult part is remaining consistently engaged with my blueprint. I think if I set a reminder in my calendar once a week to stay engaged in my PLN, I will be able to read Couceling journals, ask questions on facebook groups, and spend some time on social media to share my knowledge and follow expert advice. I imagine my PLN will need to be adjusted periodically and that will be easier to do once I learn more. Once my practice is operating and I have multiple councilors working there, I would like to set time to have a weekly meeting to discuss how they are all doing and taking feedback in how to improve the client experience.