Cory S. Callies Lifespan Cognition Lab Interview
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Lifespan Cognition Lab (Tier 2 Canada Research Chair Psychology Lab)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2016/08/03
Tell us about your brief background – education, family, and work.
I ended up moving a few times during my teenage years due to my Fathers work. He has a career as a long-haul truck driver and lives in Alberta with my mom. I graduated high school at Langley Education Center (LEC), which is attached to Langley Secondary School. The school counselor at LEC encouraged me to attend a workshop on school counseling, which started my interest for psychology.
You are a third-year student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University with the intention to complete a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Counseling. Why psychology coupled with counseling?
The reason I am pursuing a minor in counseling is my interest in helping people. If I want to become an effective clinical psychologist, I need proper counseling skills. Well, a minor in counseling will not necessarily give me those practical skills, but it is a step in the right direction.
You are the project manager for the Lifespan Cognition Lab of Dr. Daniel Bernstein. What tasks and responsibilities come with this position?
As the project manager, I really work as a jack-of-all-trades. I am responsible for training new research assistants, scheduling, and recruiting participants for our study. Recruiting involves working with advertisements and calling perspective participants, I have a responsibility to make sure the project is on the right track, but it could not be done without the other research assistants, Dr. Daniel Bernstein, and Eric Mah.
You have experiences relevant to clinical psychologists with at-risk children and addiction. What are these experiences?
Growing up, I watched many of the families and acquaintances struggle with drug addictions, or broken families. At the time, I was a naïve child, so I did not fully understand what was going on around me. However, as I grew up, I had a real revelation on how the world works. I think that having real world experience in some of the issues clients are facing will be help me understand, and better treat them.
You want to help the ill, too. How do these experiences relate to clinical psychology and wanting to help the ill?
As a clinical psychologist, I intend to work in a hospital and help treat the mentally ill. Some forms of mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar, and depression can have huge negative impacts on the lives of others. By helping to treat these serious mental illnesses, I hope to better the client’s lives, as well as the lives of their families.
You have research interests in autism spectrum disorder, addiction, and addictions counseling. What makes these interesting research topics?
I find it interesting that although we all have a brain, some small differences in them can cause such a massive effect. I want to be able to better understand others, and the issues that they face in life, and understanding how the brain functions is a good place to start.
In regards to addictions, I find it interesting that basic needs can be overlooked for non-essential drugs. People give up their whole lives to chase a drug, which is the sad reality that some people face every day, and I want to understand how to change these people for the better.
What role do the mentioned experiences with at-risk children and addiction, and the research interests in autism spectrum disorder, addiction, and addictions counseling align with the aim to enter graduate school in clinical psychology?
My original intention going into University was to become a school counselor. My school counselor really helped me, and I thought that by helping kids achieve their goals, I could positively influence their lives, and help them through difficult problems they face. Some of which could be family troubles, or drug addictions, even mental health issues.
After seeing the damages addictions and mental illnesses do to families, I decided I wanted to tackle the issue in a more direct matter. School counselors may fill a lot of their time with course selection, and not actual counseling work. That is why I aim to graduate with a degree in clinical psychology, so I can obtain the skills, and qualifications to work directly with mental illnesses, or drug addictions.
What are the next steps for 2016 and in the years to come for you?
I like to set goals for myself to complete that are simple and concrete, and that work towards future goals that may be broader. My goal for this year is to strengthen my research skills, by taking research methods and statistics. Statistics is one of my weaker points, and I would like to strengthen these areas, to better help my colleagues.
With everybody looking into taking the GRE’s I was also planning to brush up on my basics, to better prepare myself for the future. In the long term, I would like to start looking into potential advisors for my degree in clinical psychology.
It is a very competitive degree, and getting accepted into the program of your choice is difficult. If I can make a good impression on an advisor, I drastically increase my chances of getting into a program of my choice, with an advisor that shares the same interests as I do.
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