A Little Late...

Thanks to those who have seen this blog and posted a comment thus far! :)
It has only been 2 1/2 days, yet I already have some people reading, which is encouraging. I apologize for not posting anything yesterday, as I was fully committed to either, reading, driving, or attending class up until the point my head hit this pillow...

So, now I shall submit an entry that will serve as yesterday's, fair enough?
The transition from two days ago to last morning was difficult, in large part due to the amount of sleep I lost. Yes, I think I got 6 hours, which is actually NOT very bad, for an average graduate student (for those who have not filled such a role before, yes, the loss of an average of two to one hours per night of sleep is quite normal, for me and for any other student I have conversed with). With the lagging start to the morning still in my head, I proceeded to crack my Law and Ethics course texts open and get some reading done, before I wait until the last night before the next class. What I find in those books are fascinating...

As future psychologists/therapists, it is almost a given fact that requires no forethought to consider that ethics should be central to the work within such a profession. However, I find that the case examples within one of my books (Ethics in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions, 3rd Ed., Koocher and Keith-Spiegel) (which are all based upon real cases) display something opposite of that assumption. I find psychologists who, after being threatened to be taken into a small claims court for allegedly over-charging for therapy sessions for an ex-client, goes completely overboard with vengeance and hires a burglar to frame his ex-client with incriminating evidence planted by the burglar, which is to point the authorities to the ex-client. Thankfully, the burglar had a big mouth and a loose tongue when under the influence of alcohol, so he naturally slipped the whole plot and ended it before anything could begin. Other stories (some not as strange and others completely off the deep end) abound. I am led to wonder "Why?" and "How?" Why do these men and women, under the guise of trust and high standards of ethics sink so low and even attempt to continue practicing their profession? How could they even get to the point of getting licensed in the first place? Conveniently, the same book also lists the answers to those questions, which I won't get into an exhaustive list now, yet it leads me to an unnerving conclusion: I am no less vulnerable in committing these violations of the Ethics Code than those in the case examples. Many of these mental health professionals were well-meaning people who, along the way, experienced either carelessness in simple judgment or allowed the stresses to accumulate to the point of breaking.
As a grad student, the stresses easily accumulate for me, and, so easily, they cause me to make excuses and cut corners wherever I can. Now, before I go on, a certain amount of efficiency is needed in order to survive as a student; however, there is this fine line between what can be called "efficiency" and what can be termed "cutting corners".
So, that is what I offer up to the conversation: In the midst of accumulating duties, obligations, and stresses, how might one stay on task at the "efficient" level and not transition into the area of "cutting corners"?
It would seem that one of the best strategies in my experience has been to keep a social network around you, which can help you see outside yourself. If the bonds of trust go deep enough, one can divulge the day's activities, and get a warning back from a friend if the actions exhibit any "red flags"...