Susan Castonguay
HW420
Unit 9 Final Project
November 21, 2011
Professor Kevin Modglin
Kaplan University










Introduction: Why is it important for health and wellness professionals to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically? What areas do you need to develop to achieve the goals you have for yourself?
I think it is important that in order to teach others, we must fully understand what we are trying to teach and help others develop. If we do not develop and continue to work at developing ourselves we will not be able to help our clients improve their own lives. In health and wellness, we must look at the whole person, mind, body and spirit, not just the illness. Psychologically we must always grow to understand how the outside elements can affect our wellbeing. Spiritually we should always look to grow, as this element can often be overlooked in our culture. Physically we must work to better ourselves and stay healthy. We must always practice what we preach in order for our clients to trust in what we know and we understand how to use what we know.
I need to work on developing all aspects of my life, psychologically, spiritually and physically because I feel we are always changing, growing and learning. I believe we must always be open to further develop our own lives in order to help others. I think one of the areas I need to develop the most would be psychologically. I tend to take on other peoples issues as my own. I was once told by a psychologist that I was born to take other peoples pain away. This was because my parents had me to replace a child that died shortly after birth. I had never looked at it in a bad way, and I see nothing wrong with being here to help others. I need to better understand how to separate what I can and cannot control.

Assessment: How have you assessed your health in each domain? How do you score your wellness spiritually, physically, and psychologically?
I have assessed my health in each domain. I feel that I have a lot of growth to do and will continue to develop in each of these areas. I think it is difficult to “score” any such area. I just know that in each area there is an opportunity to continue to grow to become a better person. I think I am better spiritually than in the other two areas, because I feel that I am always trying to spread love, happiness and wellbeing to everyone around me. I think that Loving-Kindness is the most important to me personally. I think that loving kindness is directly connected with spirituality. Physically I am not too bad off. I could stand to lose some weight, increase my exercise and eat better. Psychologically I am a work in progress. I tend to take on other peoples issues and try to help them deal with what is going on, and then I ignore my own issues and do not deal with them.

Goal development: List at least one goal you have for yourself in each area, Physical, Psychological (mental health) and Spiritual.
A Physical goal for me would be to lose weight. To help accomplish this, I have joined Weight Watchers and have started an exercise regimen.
A Psychological goal for me is to work on dealing with issues as they arise, instead to trying to ignore them. When you ignore an issue, it continues to grow, and then it can become insurmountable.
A Spiritual goal for me is to continue to spread Loving-Kindness to others. I am working on this goal at this time with my family.

Practices for personal health: What strategies can you implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; Physical, Psychological, and Spiritual. Provide at least two examples of exercises or practices in each domain. Explain how you will implement each example.
A physical strategy that I will implement to foster growth is to set small goals that I can achieve. By setting small goals, the overall big goal will be easier to reach. I will continue to monitor what I eat, sticking to my daily intake goal. I will also continue to exercise daily and encourage my family to join me.
A psychological strategy that I will implement to foster growth is continue to practice what I have learned in this class on a daily basis. I will use breathing techniques as well as visualization exercises to help clear my mind of the clutter and be able to think more clearly and stay focused on my goals.
A spiritual strategy that I will implement to foster growth is to continue to practice loving kindness. I will not spread any hurtful or negative thoughts or works that my impact others. I will use meditation for this strategy. Using meditation will help me stay focused on being able to help myself as well as others in their own spiritual growth.

Commitment: How will you assess your progress or lack of progress in the next six months? What strategies can you use to assist in maintaining your long-term practices for health and wellness?
I plan on reviewing my progress daily. If you do something every day for twenty days, it becomes a habit. I am also aware, as I change, my goals may change and I must be willing to set new goals as ones that have been set are achieved. I know that some areas can be a struggle, so I have learned that it is ok to slip up. I can reset my goals and work on them again. As far as long term practices, I have learned so much in this class regarding different techniques that are already a great help in my daily life. I think each has a very useful place in my life. I love using the breathing and visualization techniques to help myself calm down, think clearer and guide myself in a positive direction.