A bit off topic.

[George87]

Hi everyone!

This one is a bit different

I was just wondering......could it be that some of you choose to go into a helping profession because you were in a caring role since early on?

[angela4]

Hi George - This is a great question!  I had some health issues growing up and also helped my special needs cousin. I'm not sure how these influenced my career choices, but I would imagine they had some impact! I've answered 'no' in the poll. Thanks for the question

Edited March 31, 2017 by angela4

[Callen]

Interesting question!!

I didn't grow up taking care of a parent. I'm wondering if my parents history in the medical field led me to combine my interests in science and language? My parents are both in the medical field in some way, so I've grown up around it. 

[plume]

No, I did not have to care for a parent growing up. Like Callen, my parents are in the medical field and I have always been drawn to it. I do have a disabled sister who required care growing up, and I have wondered if this had anything to do with my drive to pursue a helping profession. 

[Paslp]

I have never thought about that.  I like people so I never wanted a job in a cubicle. As to how I picked speech path:

I had no other options but to attend a university 10 minutes from my house. My parents are both blue collar workers and basically said pick a major from the ones listed on the school website. I picked speech path because it didn't require a science lab. I ended up liking it and sticking with it.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Paslp

[George87]

Thanks for the feedback guys and gals

I really should have added the caring of siblings and other relatives to the pol. Doing that on a regular basis obviously has a powerful effect on your personality. 

2 hours ago, angela4 said:

I had some health issues growing up 

I think that it made you more sensitive to the suffering of others.

 

2 hours ago, Callen said:

 

 I'm wondering if my parents history in the medical field led me to combine my interests in science and language?

I think it definitely contributed to your choice. Both of my parents are also medical professionals. I'm pretty sure that growing up in that kind of environment had something to do with my career choice. 

[ImHis]

I am an INFJs and I think my functions can explain why I'm here. Ni manifests a lot during therapy where I can't explain why my client is doing what but I follow it and it seems to work. My auxiliary Fe attempts to maintain harmony in the world and to make meaningful connections. I truly believe this is one reason I entered the field. My dominant function is my Ni and I think the field allows me to use it to my advantage especially those who have difficulty to communicate. I am at a phase in my life where I am starting to balance my Ti, my tertiary function and I find the science aspect of the field allows me to exercise this function. I think this explains it all  

[Callen]

1 hour ago, ImHis said:

I am an INFJs and I think my functions can explain why I'm here. Ni manifests a lot during therapy where I can't explain why my client is doing what but I follow it and it seems to work. My auxiliary Fe attempts to maintain harmony in the world and to make meaningful connections. I truly believe this is one reason I entered the field. My dominant function is my Ni and I think the field allows me to use it to my advantage especially those who have difficulty to communicate. I am at a phase in my life where I am starting to balance my Ti, my tertiary function and I find the science aspect of the field allows me to exercise this function. I think this explains it all  

I love this explanation! I'm an ENFJ and I feel like that also plays a role in why I chose this field. I didn't even think about it

[plume]

2 hours ago, ImHis said:

I am an INFJs and I think my functions can explain why I'm here. Ni manifests a lot during therapy where I can't explain why my client is doing what but I follow it and it seems to work. My auxiliary Fe attempts to maintain harmony in the world and to make meaningful connections. I truly believe this is one reason I entered the field. My dominant function is my Ni and I think the field allows me to use it to my advantage especially those who have difficulty to communicate. I am at a phase in my life where I am starting to balance my Ti, my tertiary function and I find the science aspect of the field allows me to exercise this function. I think this explains it all  

I used to use Myers-Briggs and it did help in my career search. INFP (or J, not sure) here!

[George87]

I think the question here is why made you guys into an: INFJs, ENFJ and  INFP (or J) respectively? 

Was it mostly nature or nurture? 

Maybe I'm going to deep down the rabbit hole here lol

[Moongirl201]

My mother had stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma. It was so aggressive that it spread tumors to her knee, lungs, and brain. After finding out she had cancer she only lived for 4 months. During those months my father and I took care of her. Due to the tumors in her brain she lost the ability to speak to us, eat, and comprehend information. She didn't even get the chance to say goodbye... It was a devastating experience. Even though this broke my heart, it opened a new chapter in my life. I made it my goal to become a speech path in hoping I can help individuals like my mother be able to communicate. I want to work with both adults and children (my main goal is to work with cancer patients) so I can give them a means of communication. 

[SopranoSLP]

4 hours ago, ImHis said:

I am an INFJs and I think my functions can explain why I'm here. Ni manifests a lot during therapy where I can't explain why my client is doing what but I follow it and it seems to work. My auxiliary Fe attempts to maintain harmony in the world and to make meaningful connections. I truly believe this is one reason I entered the field. My dominant function is my Ni and I think the field allows me to use it to my advantage especially those who have difficulty to communicate. I am at a phase in my life where I am starting to balance my Ti, my tertiary function and I find the science aspect of the field allows me to exercise this function. I think this explains it all  

That's a really interesting observation! I'm also an INFJ, which I've always understood to encompass a rare blend of analytical mind and intuitive spirit. :-) I was initially drawn to the arts, but I think SLP offers a better blend of the analytical and the intuitive, AND it offers a chance to help others directly. (One could argue that the arts help a lot of people, but the day-to-day life of an artist is EXTREMELY self-involved.) One of the SLPs I observed said that success in the field requires someone who is extremely bright AND extremely empathetic, so... A nerdy empath. I have a feeling that describes a lot of us here! :-)

[CCCaffeinated-SLP]

20 hours ago, George87 said:

I think the question here is why made you guys into an: INFJs, ENFJ and  INFP (or J) respectively? 

Was it mostly nature or nurture? 

Maybe I'm going to deep down the rabbit hole here lol

Much like others here, I didn't take care of a parent growing up, but my mom is in the medical field (nurse practitioner).  When I was first starting college 4 years ago, she kept saying how one day I'm going to get a graduate degree as well.  Back then, I was like absolutely not, but look at me now!

I'm also an INFP; I've tested INFJ as well on a few occasions.  I think a lot of my INFP personality preference is nature.  I've had pretty much the same core personality all of my life, although living life and growing up has likely shaped my personality as well (nurture).  As in, I've always more or less been a quiet person (which is actually sort of ironic that a lot of us here are introverts, since SLP is supposedly a very extroverted field), and I've liked language and creative tasks.  Really I haven't seen too much of a change in these traits, and if anything I feel like my creativity and love of language have become more apparent as I've gotten older and sort of "come into my own."  So overall I'd say more nature than nurture, but I think both have played a role for me personally.

I think SLP is suited for people with NF preferences, since it involves so much caring for others and an analytical nature.  I know people with NF preferences are definitely suited for the arts, teaching, and counseling, and SLP involves a bit of all of these skills.

Interesting discussion though! I'm actually taking personality psych at the moment so I can see some of these concepts at work here  

[kenz]

On 3/31/2017 at 1:04 PM, ImHis said:

I am an INFJs and I think my functions can explain why I'm here. Ni manifests a lot during therapy where I can't explain why my client is doing what but I follow it and it seems to work. My auxiliary Fe attempts to maintain harmony in the world and to make meaningful connections. I truly believe this is one reason I entered the field. My dominant function is my Ni and I think the field allows me to use it to my advantage especially those who have difficulty to communicate. I am at a phase in my life where I am starting to balance my Ti, my tertiary function and I find the science aspect of the field allows me to exercise this function. I think this explains it all  

I'm also an INFJ! (And a little bit obsessed with Myers Briggs) I also agree that the INFJ's function stack is really suited to the different aspects of speech pathology.

[ElKel87]

19 hours ago, SopranoSLP said:

That's a really interesting observation! I'm also an INFJ, which I've always understood to encompass a rare blend of analytical mind and intuitive spirit. :-) I was initially drawn to the arts, but I think SLP offers a better blend of the analytical and the intuitive, AND it offers a chance to help others directly. (One could argue that the arts help a lot of people, but the day-to-day life of an artist is EXTREMELY self-involved.) One of the SLPs I observed said that success in the field requires someone who is extremely bright AND extremely empathetic, so... A nerdy empath. I have a feeling that describes a lot of us here! :-)

I'm also an INFJ! And I agree, I've read that it's the rarest of the personality types, accounting for only about 1-2% of the population. I never really thought about how that personality type drew me to speech pathology, but the way you described it above is perfect. A blend of the analytical and the intuitive and a chance to help others.

What a great thread!

[Callen]

So many INFJs!! I know ENFJ is also pretty rare at I think around 2.5% or something. Rare is cool ahahah.

I always find meyers briggs personality types interesting because they do seem to really align with each person I know!

[eseteacher]

My parents are in the medical field and I believe that inspired me to go towards medicine. Originally, I was studying to be a doctor. I realized that I wasn't enjoying my Biology major and skipped over to another field. Also, I'm INFP  I think for me it is mainly nurture. Would I still bea nurturing person like my father and mother? I'm not sure. I like to imagine I"m a little bit of both, but the inspiration and love from my family definitely persuaded me to go into medicine. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by eseteacher

[George87]

On 4/1/2017 at 1:38 AM, Moongirl201 said:

My mother had stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma. It was so aggressive that it spread tumors to her knee, lungs, and brain. After finding out she had cancer she only lived for 4 months. During those months my father and I took care of her. Due to the tumors in her brain she lost the ability to speak to us, eat, and comprehend information. She didn't even get the chance to say goodbye... It was a devastating experience. Even though this broke my heart, it opened a new chapter in my life. I made it my goal to become a speech path in hoping I can help individuals like my mother be able to communicate. I want to work with both adults and children (my main goal is to work with cancer patients) so I can give them a means of communication. 

Hey moongirl

Sorry to hear about all that your family had to go through :(.  Watching a loved one progressively deteriorate like that might just be the worst feeling in the world. The feelings of helplessness and frustration can be unbearable. I think that the best thing you can do for someone going through such an ordeal is just to be there for them. To hold their hand and let them know and feel they are not alone.

I had a similar experience with my dad(albeit it stretched on a longer time span), so I think I can relate. He had a major stroke which left him unable to walk and also impaired some other motor and cognitive functions. I was just two and a half years old. Obviously it was a HUGE shock for me and the rest of the family. Fast forward about fifteen years and he starts to deteriorate gradually but badly. Until the last year and a half of his life was spent in a coma state. 

So I think me and and unfortunately millions of other had experienced very similar feelings :(. How old were you when it happened? If you you don't mind me asking....

The only thing I can say about the connection between inability to communicate with your mom and your career choice is that I really really hope that you are not doing it out of guilt, or as an attempt to rectify the past. I know I had HUGE issues with guilt over the years constantly trying to heal my dad when I knew full well there was no cure and even after he died.... Hope you are not like that

Thanks for the very personal share