6 September 2021: Pengalaman interview Sarjana Psikologi Kaunseling UKM (master degree)

 

I nak share pengalaman I interview untuk sarjana Psikologi Kaunseling UKM, pelik kan? universiti lain tak ada pun nak interview tetapi UKM ada sebab every year penyertaan sangat tinggi and UKM is the best university in Malaysia to pursue your master degree in psychology. No doubt! Last month I apply untuk course ini guna keputusan sem 1- sem 5, privileges untuk pelajar degree UKM you can apply your master direct before you finish your degree. 4 days ago iaitu 11 September I dapat panggilan temuduga untuk program Sarjana Psikologi Kaunseling di UKM. Disebabkan keadaan masih pandemik jadi interview pun dilaksanakan secara atas talian bestnya!!! hahhahaha i think this is the last online IV maybe next year tak akan ada dah sebab pandemik mungkin sudah tiada atau terkawal. hopefully. 

Dalam email itu dia bagitahu mengenai preparation, peraturan, jadual temuduga dan juga link whatsapp group sebagai satu platform "call room" untuk semua calon-calon. Time ini aisya tak nervous langsung and tak alert sebab this few week I quit busy with my Asean Volunteer, ACBTA Volunteer, Internship and my Hari Kesihatan Mental event. Fyi bulan September dan October ini merupakan bulan kesihatan mental dan pencegahan bunuh diri so I as a person yang into this field quit busy to get involved with this kind of activities (on my own initiative). haahaha pandai masuk, pandailah buat ye. But Allhamdulilah till now I can give my full commitement toward the program. But thankfully I do put a reminder and letak star dekat email panggilan temubual tersebut. 🌟 and I jenis buka email hari-hari so I akan nampak the email. I do copy the link and whatsapp group link dekat my notes tapi lupa (lupa lagi) hahaha nak masuk call room tersebut few days after and hanya masuk pada malam sebelum interview (tolong jangan ikut cara ini pleaseee). Yes tak nampak apa-apa pun keburukan tapi macam tak baik lah. 

Last night baru I masuk group tu just untuk tick kehadiran for tomorrow. I dapat kumpulan 3 iaitu pukul 10:00 pagi untill 11:00 pagi dengan seramai 5 orang calon dan 2 orang penemu duga which is my own lecturer Dr Chong dan Dr Adib  (tapi both of them tak kenal saya pun sebab saya introvert intoverted!), mereka berdua merupakan pensyarah psikologi kaunseling yang sangat sporting dan baik di UKM. okay heres some of the peraturan yang urus setia bagi sebelum I nak masuk Iv tu. 

Sebelum Temuduga

• Memastikan peralatan peranti yang digunakan bagi tujuan temuduga secara atas talian seperti komputer dan telefon bimbit sedia digunakan. (morning before IV I practise mock iv with my bf)

• Mempunyai capaian internet yang memuaskan. ( ini if you interview online very important)

• Menyediakan sijil-sijil dan dokumen penting berkaitan seperti menghadiri temuduga biasa iaitu:

1. Sijil kelulusan akademik

2. Sijil kokurikulum 

3. Sijil kelulusan lain (jika ada)

4. Surat penaja/biasiswa 

* yang ini I dh prepare but online iv so hahahhaha actually tak buat pun tak apa but if you temuduga fizikal please bring it on! bawa semua sijil and your resume as your front page okay ( I did this on my degree and I been selected hehehe)

• Pakaian bersesuaian seperti menghadiri temuduga biasa. ( either you online or fizikal pakaian sangat penting jangan pakai tudung sarung, rambut sila sikat and pakai minya, lelaki pakai tie!)

okayy the day coming, make sure you datang awal. I masuk 9:50am but the IV start on 10:00am tak awal sangat hahaha. Fisrt ice breaking daripada Dr Chong sangat-sangat fun. really she did a very good job dengan gelak dia dan suara dia buat all the candidates kurang nervous but I still nervoussss!

First soalan dia tanya introduction pasal diri, why psikologi kaunseling, why UKM.

- I jawab nama, umur, asal, pendidikan lama, sekarang buat apa

- no 2, I jawab sebab minat, suka nak advocade, inspired by the subjects, suka bantu dan bagi awareness, tips I adalah you try relatekan minat you dengan isu sekarang and why you nak ambil.

- no3, I jawab sebab UKM is the prestijous uni in Malaysia terutamanya ini psychology. UKM best research university, good lectures and puji je lah banyak-banyak pasal UKM hhahahaha.

okay then seorang-seorang jawab...........

Second question pula Dr Ajib tanya pandangan mengenai isu bunuh diri yang sedang berlaku di Malaysia ini terutamanya ketika pandemik.

I dk why I akan jadi orang yang awal menjawab and semua yang I tahu atau yang I sepatutnya tonjolkan tak keluar!!! lepas IV baru menyesal tauuuuuu. but yang ini I bagitahu pasal peranan kaunselor, individu dan pentingnya Psycological First Aids untuk assist golongan yang ada suicidal thought atau suicidal  ideation ini untuk tidak bertindak lebih parah. Pastikan ada support daripada family dan kawan. dapatkan bantuan proffesional, buat awareness dan etc.

- but ini I lihat from other candidates they did categories each of the precuations atau pandangan dari segi micro or minor so maybe you guys can get an idea untuk nampakkan hujah kalian lebih matang dan bernas okay!

Third pula haihhhhhh Dr Ajib tanya pasal cadangan tajuk thesis untuk masteer lol!! yang ini i tengok semua candidates macam tergamam hahahahahaha. yeeeeeeee me too actually I do have few topic on my thought tapi i keluh nak menjawabbb ahahhahaa my research i nak focus on suri rumah their psychological level and mental health condition tapi i cakap tunggang terbalik sebab I dont really prepare to be asked like thisssss. so in future if you guys read this pleaseeeeee prepare and make sure bagi sekali abstrak dan cara untuk laksanakannya.

okay ltu je tiga soalan 5 orang untuk 1 jam. actually 1 jam tu tak rasa apa pun sebab 5 orang bercakap tau so kita punya peluang bercakap actually 10 minit macam tu je. so prepare betul-betul okay. Our session habis awal 10 minit macam tu and Dr open for any soalan regarding the masters. soal jawab bla... bla...... habis 11:00am. 

I punya advise jangan jadi orang yang awal bercakap kalau you're not confident and  not prepare well. dengar jawapan other candidates and makesure absord atau perhalusi apa yang mereka cakap. I punya rakan-rakan time IV tu sangat-sangat hebat 3 of them from overseas, ada yang lecturer, ada yang kerja dah dalam bidang psikologi and I grade pun belum just terus masuk IV macam langgar je. But listen to them and come out with your own idea dan ingat sehebat-hebat mana pun orang tu mereka ada kelemahan dan you have your own value okay!.

but here I nak add up sikit soalan-soalan lain yang mungkin akan ditanya in future untuk you guys punya panduan supaya lebih confident:

1. Pengalaman dalam bidang yang diambil
2. Kenapa memilih bidang ini
3. Isu semasa mengenai bidang yang dimohon (perluuuu and wajib tahu)
4. Tokoh-tokoh advantages any soalan you can relate with this tokoh
5. Kenapa kena pilih saya (cliche but please be prepare)
6. Idea untuk perkasa bidang di Malaysia
7. Teori berkaitan bidang (Jarang kot tapi ingat je lah satu dan dua)

okay thats all from mee! and if you're interested to pursue master in Psychology Counselling better to do it in UKM. Sebab silibus di UKM sangatlah bagus dan menepati MCQ. yes it might a bit competitive to enter but try your luck. Kalau nak tahu lebih lagi boleh tengok di http://www.ukm.my/ppppm/psikologi-kaunseling/

In shaa Allah ada rezeki okay. Good luck for your interview if you have anything to ask can put your question down in comment below. Take care!

8 Positive Behaviour That Can Help to Boost Your Mental Health

Mental health challenges have risen in this Covid-19 pandemic and we believe that it is important that mental health strategies need to be shared and produced in ways that are accessible to all. Everybody has been hit by pandemic in a way or other. Please spread positivity and boost the good emotion of others. Motivate the people around you specially the children and youngsters. Good mental health of the people is very important right now. But this is all start with you. If you want to be the support for the others, your mental health should be the priority. Here's some tips on a positive behavior that can help to boost your mental health. 

💌1. TALKING OPENLY 

Talking openly and honestly to friends  and family members can help you to problem solve and vent emotions. If you have anything burden on your head please seek for your close friend or family to share. Don't let yourself face it alone. Everyone needs support. So do you. If you're not satisfied with some actions from your family member or your friends take a courage to speak up. You deserve an explanation for their behavior. You need a healthy relationship with them because they're your circle, the environment you life in. They're the biggest supporters in your life. If you enable to create the harmony in your circle, your mental health will be affected. 

💌2. MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES

Engaging in activities that are important to you can help provide you with a sense of meaning.  Stay connected to your values ​​when you can. 

- These are the best meaningful activities you can do in your life. 

1. Spending time with loved ones. 

2. Supporting family members 'or friends' 3. goals and interests 

4. Caring for children and other family members 

5. Helping others 

6. Education/Learning/School 

7. Persevered at a valued goal even in the face of obstacles 

8. Expressed my gratitude either verbally or in writing 

9. Traveling Listened  carefully to another's point of view

10. Sleeping

Try once I believe you can feel the changes on you! 

💌3. BEING MINDFUL 

Applying mindfulness when engaging in activities is a useful way to calm your mind and stay focused on the present moment. Being mindful means being aware of your thoughts, emotions, and how you're feeling both physically and mentally. It means being aware of your thoughts and feelings without judgment. Remember there is no “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in any moment.

💌4. EXERCISING REGULARLY 

Being active and engaging in regular exercise is a great way to boost mood and also reduce anxiety and stress. Exercise is the most powerful meditation for not only for your mental health but for your physical health. Try to go out for a jogging, walking or cycling at least once a week to boost your mental and physical stamina. Exercise regularly at a moderate or vigorous level can improve your mental health. Running also improves your memory and ability to learn. Exercise outside has other benefits, like lessening feelings of loneliness and isolation. Try once and you'll never regret! 

💌5. SELF CARE 

Scheduling time into your week where you can engage in activities that provide you with a sense of calm for your mind and body is important for physical/mental health. There are 8 main areas of self-care: physical, psychological, emotional, social, professional, environmental, spiritual, and financial. Movement of the body, health, nutrition, sleep and resting needs. Priorities your needs. What you love. Take a break and create a "me time" every week for yourself. Find a specific time for you to do it every week. 

These are the activities you can do indoors:

1. Read or listen to a book.

2. Look through photos or scrapbook.

3. Set up a video call with loved ones.

4. Practice a hobby.

6. Take an online class.

7. Exercise or focus on fitness.

8. Spend time outside.

9. Engage your spirituality

Here's some another tips I found online:

💌6. HELPING OTHERS 

Helping others can provide you with a sense of pride, achievement and accomplishment. Evidence shows that helping others can also benefit our own mental health and wellbeing. Laboratory-based experiments also have shown that providing support can help individuals cope with stress, increasing their experiences of positive emotion. For example, it can reduce stress as well as improve mood, self-esteem and happiness. It may end up helping you feel just a little bit better. I believe when you unable to smile because of the bad day but when you see a smile from the people you help they can help to boost your mood better. ☺️

💌7. CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE 

Whether it is going for a coffee with a friend, or spending quality time with family, connecting with others regularly can boost confidence and reduce anxiety. Yes! Good relationships are important for your mental wellbeing. Connecting with others is a sense of being open and available to another person, even as you feel they are open and available to you. Other ingredients of human connection are empathy and compassion where we feel goodwill to the person we are connecting with. This is why stressed people who have adequate levels of social support receive an oxytocin boost which helps them feel less anxious, more confident in their ability to cope, and more drawn to other people (thus perpetuating the positive cycle of social support). Evidence shows that connecting with others and forming good relationships with family, friends and the wider community are important for mental wellbeing. Building stronger, broader social connections in your life can increase your feelings of happiness and self-worth. 

💌8. JOURNALING

Writing down thoughts and worries in a journal is a great way to understand what is going in your mind and a useful technique for understanding triggers. Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by: Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns. Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them. Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts. 

These are the journaling activities for you to try and feel the difference. 

1. Talk About Your Day.

2. Identify Things You're Grateful For.

3. Write a List of Your Coping Mechanisms.

4. Describe a Goal.

5. Write About How Different You Were 5 Years Ago.

6. Write a Letter to Your Body.

7. List and Describe Your Emotions.

8. Write About How You'd Describe Yourself to a Stranger.

Don't let the others behaviors destroy your inner peace. Sometime your mental health is the biggest priority of yours to encourage breath inside & settled down of your head storm is the main key factor to boost in positive direction. 

For me, especially during the 2021 and 2020 part of the pandemic, doing a blog was a boost to my mental health. Connecting with people online and volunteering helped me stay grounded.

Thanks for yourself because reading this blog and planning something different for yourself today. 

- love aisya🤍💜

 

How to dealing with burnout!

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.

⛔Primary damage is physical: Primary damage is emotional

⛔Leads to anxiety disorders: Leads to detachment and depression

⛔May kill you prematurely: May make life seem not worth living

⛔Loss of energy: Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope

So heres some tips for you on how to dealing with burnout. It's requires the “Three R” approach:

🌱Recognize. 

Watch for the warning signs of burnout.

🌱Reverse. 

Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress.

🌱Resilience. 

Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health.

Reach out to those closest to you, such as your partner, family and friends. Opening up won’t make you a burden to others. In fact, most friends and loved ones will be flattered that you trust them enough to confide in them and it will only strengthen your friendship. Find new friends. If you don’t feel that you have anyone to turn to, it’s never too late to build new friendships and expand your social network. I'm here by the way, hit me up if you need someone to talk to. 🤗

Here's another tips I found on Internet. 

It's okay if you're not productive. This isn't a time to be pushing yourself into burnout. This is a time to be taking care of yourself and putting your health, both physical and mental at the top of your priorities. Don't be hard on yourself because you need or want a break.💖

- love aisya

Please don't trust in Psedopsychology or NLP. It's sick! :(

I can't believe nowadays this pseudopsychology content gain more likes and supportive comments from the audiences in social media.

Pseudo means false, and it's a pseudoscience. As you know in science we do have an examination, an experiment, an observation and so many steps to be make to prove the truth of some information whether its scientifically proven or not. The data need to analyse for many people,using a reliability test or instrumen before the data can be use to the community. Yes. That's psychology. 

But this isn't science. Its effect doesn't go beyond the Barnum effect. Psychology results are significant, those aren't. Double blinded tests were done.

You're free to believe. But like alchemy or homeopathy, it's not a science.

Siap ada hastag "tiktok guru" "personalities check"

Penat kami belajar psychology bertahun tapi end up content macam ni yang awak cari. Cubit nak🤏

Let's normalise not normalising pseudopsychology.

Show that you are are influenced by evidence & not influenced by influencers.

I find it amusing how some people think psychology is just common sense but yet go around spouting pseudopsychology.

There’s a reason why psychology is needed. The research within the field debunks so many pseudoscience myths that are disguised as “common sense”.

All that pseudopsychology like horoscopes, mediums, psychics, siblings theory and etc please don't play with that. Also if you're watching things like "Psychologist once said", " Psychology Facts" you need to be careful with it. So, stop spreading pseudopsychology, every individual comes different with its own skills and weaknesses.

So please please please don't trust anything you see on social media especially related to your mentally and physically. 🦋

Are you jelous with other's succeed? Please read this!

Have you ever compared yourself to your closest friends? 

Wondering if you’ve been left behind? Felt small, suffered from self-doubt and spent your precious time thinking about other people’s success instead of your own?

This is gonna be a long post and pretty wordy but it is worth it!

We've all heard of the Social Comparison Theory, initially proposed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954.

Here's what I learned:

Comparing ourselves to others, without taking the action they took results in this will make our standards raise exponentially but our ability to perform does not.

WE WANT TO RAISE OUR STANDARDS AND ABILITY SO THAT:

🌸We can be a TOP PERFORMERS and have the influence we deserve.

🌸We can ARCHIVE OUR DREAMS and be our best selves.

🌸Be a TRUE ROLE MODEL to our families and friends.

**BUT HERE’S THE PROBLEM **

- We end up comparing ourselves to our closest peers and it results in over judgment.

- We get into negative spirals of being mean to ourselves.

- We feel envy and procrastinate instead of doing what it takes.

Here’s what we forget in that moment of comparison -

You can grow at any point in your life. There’s always going to be someone who is better at something and we just have to get to a level of competence.

Let me share with you a one case study of what I call the Social Competence Effect. You can simply focus on raising your ability to meet your standards just by asking and doing.

🏢 I was chosen to interview the new candidates for my faculty association at one of Malaysia's top research university.

Their requirements and resume were remarkable. Out of 100’s of applicants, the cream 5 top were chosen for an interview with me and my colleagues.

These were kids fresh out of Matriculation, who could talk the talk and walk the walk. In their young life they had accomplished more than the experienced people I knew.

One of my colleagues commented about a girl we interviewed – “She was so good, I wanted to resign my position (secretary of the fac) and give her.” It was true. I felt the same.

A young girl joined my team, She was a go getter, top performer from the moment they met each other. Her ability to get noticed and take up opportunity landed her in projects with the Dean and lecturers after just one month in her role in our association.

I started to look around me and see how it infuriated others with envy. I felt it too to some extent. It wasn’t fair!

Then I asked myself a question that changed my life:

Why was I wasting my time being worried about her being better when I could just ask her how she did it, watch what she does and then do what she did.

I asked her the questions, watched what she did. We got along became friends. We started hanging out together all the time.

I learned so much from her and she ended up learning more from me too. I raised the bar and got my own speaking gig with a room full of lectures and she was so happy for me.

What I realized was this:

Success is not a zero sum game. We could both be successful. Once you realize a simple thing "others are not your competition, they are your ally".

Here’s what you can do to adopt the social competence effect:

🍁Having a circle of success actually accelerates your performance in a particular area.

🍁Get into a mastermind or start your own (in your biggest growth area for this year).

The most important thing you got to be willing to do what the successful person does.

At one point, we were not doing. We were only wanting. Start doing what they do. Watch them closely and go outside your comfort zone.

You end up making crazy amount of friendships when you aren’t stuck in your own insecurity! Focus on helping others and your self-doubt vanishes.

That’s when:

· You become the person that lifts people up.

· You grow by raising your own standards.

· You achieve with your new level of competence.

Your social competence meets a new level of social confidence : )

Bear in mind, if you're continuously compete with others, you become bitter, but if you continously compete with yourself you become better!

Be better! Thank you for you time. 💜🤍

Should we normalise a mental health excuse?

I just saw a post and I'd like to elaborate further about my thoughts on this.

I agree but dont. I DON'T want it normalized to the point where that's your every little excuse for stuff. Or people who are simply stressed over a test now think they have a whole anxiety disorder. I don't want it overplayed and taken as a 'cool new trend'.

We should want people to be more open to talk about their thoughts, feelings and emotions 100%, what we don't want is to further medicalize and pathologize our feelings, actions, and emotions. We don't want children to believe they are "mentally ill" and attempt to label their thoughts and feelings based on predetermined and arbitrary clusters of disorders that are still debated in the field of psychology.

What you're actually requesting is that mental ILL health should be normalized. Sure, people should be able to talk about their mental problems and difficulties. But the illness paradigm is often very misleading and unhelpful. 

This is not to say the psychological phenomena of depression does not exist, for example, but simply to critique calling it a disorder or illness and by extension assuming it is biological in nature. 

This is just my 2 cents as a psychology student that isn't too keen on the language of the "mental illness" pop culture movement. 

I'm so sorry to post this heavy topic in here. What do you think?

20 August 2021: I'm fully vaccinate!!

Yeahh finally I completed my vaccine. 1st dose on 31st July and my second dose on 20 August. Cepat ken!! I dapat vaccine Pfizer ambil dekat DR KO Specialist Clinic, Klang. The proses smooth and cepat sangat and I went there alone so no picture em.

Actually haritu masa ramai-ramai vaksin AstraZeneca, I pun berebut juga hahaha ye lah sebab time tu proses vaksin PPV slow so kita semua berebut dengan kes covid yang naik tinggi, kita pun nak ikhtiar untuk vaksin cepat. Cakap pasal covid ni another thing I nak share macam mana I boleh kena covid juga. Tapi next blog ya. Okay back to story. I rebut-rebut tak dapat!! Lepastu sedih lah dan start overthinking macam mana nak keluar, macam mana nak itu nak ini kalau belum vaksin. Tapi allhamdullilah few days after tiba-tiba I dapat notification dari MySejahtera yang I dapat vaksin di PWTC Kuala Lumpur. Masa tu terus accept hahaha finally! Tapi lepas beberapa haritu tu pula time tu ada berita PWTC orang que sampai keluar dewan, no parking, tempat crowded, tunggu berjam-jam. Anddddddd paling penting I takde kawan nak pergi hahahaha so risau punya risau I decided to letgo the seat and rejected the appointment. Lepastu lama juga kena pulau dengan vaksin center sebab mungkin dia merajuk kita tolak dia. Tapi I ada try push push dekat help desk MySejahtera tu tulis

I nak vaksin!! ...

I nak vaksin!! ..... 

I nak vaksin!! .......

After few weeks dari I spam help desk haritu MySejahtera tu tak lama pun I got another vaccine appointment yang lebih dekat which is kt Klang sahaja yeahhh time tu happy sangat... Tapi actually bukan sebab I spam tapi back in July haritu jumlah kes dekat Lembah Klang naik sangat-sangat mendadak sehari sampai 8-9K for Klang itself kerana banyak kluster kilang, kat sini ken banyak industri sector jadi tidak hairanlah yang hairannya kenapa masih buka (eh). Jadi antara pencegahan yang dilakukan adalah dengan memberi vaksin seramai yang boleh kepada penduduk Lembah Klang secepatnya untuk mencapai herd immunity. So KKM buat keputusan untuk minta kerjasama kebanyakkan klinik-klinik swasta, dewan, hospital, balai raya, hotel dan banyak tempat untuk di jadikan tempat pemberian vaksin sementara. So ramai lah warga Lembah Klang yang di vaksin dengan begitu pantas sekali pada bulan July, August, September haritu. Tapi sebabkan klinik biasa so dia tak ada backdrop, volunteer, props yang havoc macam dekat Pwtc, IDCC yang you all boleh buat story, reels n tiktok tu. Mine ya Allah senduuu tau😂😂 tapiiiiiiiiii sangat sistematik, pantas, smooth, excellent! I bagi ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Well done Klinik Dr KO Klang. It's okayy asalkan dapat vaksin. But at least adalah kain rentang. I pergi pun seorang jadi drive pergi, cucuk, and balik so easy, n fasttt. Allhamdullilah lebih mudah and lebih cepat compare kena tunggu AZ yang gap between two doses tu took about a 2 month okay!! So allhamdullilah syukurrrrrr.. 

And all my family pun dah vaccinate. So anak-anak ibu di tahun 2050 nanti kalau baca ni keturunan kita semua dah vaksin ye. 😂 Allhamdullilah my family semua tiada yang antivac walaupun abah suka share news dari Facebook yang tak ada kesahihannya Abah tetap pergi vaksin. Berani dia cakap no, anak-anak semua ready nak ketuk. Berani lah. 

Whole family I dapat Pfizer kecuali abang dengan kakak no 4 sebab mereka ni gigih berebut AZ bulan April haritu dan memang dapat! Siap screenshot hantar group untuk show off ye kawan-kawan😂😂. Parents I awal-awal dapat dekat HTAR tempat kakak kerja sana so sebab mereka mcm close contact kakak and kakak time tu jaga covid jadi dapat lah atas kuota frontliners. Yang lain tak berjaya rebut just tunggu calling MySejahtera allhamdullilah dapat juga vaksin. Yeaaahuuuuuu 5G cip is in me! 

I harap semua yang baca ni dah dapat vaksin atau sekurang-kurangnya dapat appointment. Sedih juga sebab negeri-negeri lain ada yang bagitahu agak lambat. In shaa Allah nanti kita semua akan capai herd immunity bersama okay. Goodjob to all frontliners and volunteers you guys are amazing! 

 

-love Aisya.