Locus of Control
What exactly is Locus of Control? It is simply how strongly people believe they have control over their life and situations which affect their lives. There are really two ends of the spectrum. On one end, you have Internal Locus of Control, and on the other end you have External Locus of Control. Internal Locus of Control refers to having an internal innate drive to control ones life. Usually people on this end of the spectrum acknowledge and realize that there will be external factors to influence their life and situations along the way but it is up to them on how to internally respond and handle those situations. External Locus of Control refers to believing that things in life all happen to them based on things out of their control. People on this end of the spectrum believe their fate, happiness, luck, etc. all come from external forces, ones that they can't control.
So, which one am I? After taking the assessment and tallying my score I received a 10 out of a total score of 23. 0 = Internal Locus of Control, and 23 = External Locus of Control. I am right there in the middle! I can truly say I have an equal Internal and External Locus of Control. I am someone who definitely tries to make the most out of every situation. I approach life as a learning experience and try to change something if I don't like it, or like how the outcome is happening. I also have the ability to recognize there are things in life that I can't change and that are out of my control. Some examples being death, financial stresses in graduate school, opportunity, natural events (thanks COVID-19), etc. But here is one thing I have learned, those external forces happen to everyone. Absolutely no one in life is exempt from certain external factors, the things that we can't control. But one thing we can control is our attitude, outlook, and responses to certain situations. Instead of saying "why did this happen to me?" I try and ask myself "what can this teach me?", or "what did I learn from this?", or "what is something I can do next time to prepare for or prevent this?"
Much like the field of occupational therapy, I feel as if I have the ability to adapt regardless of the external forces around me happening that I cannot control. Much like my future clients are going to be experiencing. One recent example being COVID-19. I am really, really struggling with virtual and remote learning. I feel as if my education is being compromised, I miss physical connection, and I am learning to be a hands-on therapist through hands-off learning. However, I know everyone is going through this. Dental, medical, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, etc. are just to name a few that are also having to learn how to be health care professionals from home. So in order to combat this external force, I have had to learn to be positive, adaptable, and seize every opportunity to enhance my learning from where I am at, which is home.
We all have an External or Internal Locus of Control and you, like me, might be somewhere in the middle. As future occupational therapists, we have to learn how to take that and put it to use to benefit our future clients. Let's put ourself in their shoe's, what external forces are happening to them that they cannot change? What motivates them, what are their internal drives? How can we meet them in the middle to make sure they are able to participate in their occupations at their maximum occupational performance? Wherever we are on the spectrum, one thing we will always be able to control is our outlook and attitude toward every situation. I hope to be a positive external factor that blends seamlessly with every single one of my future clients Internal Locus of Control.
So, which one am I? After taking the assessment and tallying my score I received a 10 out of a total score of 23. 0 = Internal Locus of Control, and 23 = External Locus of Control. I am right there in the middle! I can truly say I have an equal Internal and External Locus of Control. I am someone who definitely tries to make the most out of every situation. I approach life as a learning experience and try to change something if I don't like it, or like how the outcome is happening. I also have the ability to recognize there are things in life that I can't change and that are out of my control. Some examples being death, financial stresses in graduate school, opportunity, natural events (thanks COVID-19), etc. But here is one thing I have learned, those external forces happen to everyone. Absolutely no one in life is exempt from certain external factors, the things that we can't control. But one thing we can control is our attitude, outlook, and responses to certain situations. Instead of saying "why did this happen to me?" I try and ask myself "what can this teach me?", or "what did I learn from this?", or "what is something I can do next time to prepare for or prevent this?"
Much like the field of occupational therapy, I feel as if I have the ability to adapt regardless of the external forces around me happening that I cannot control. Much like my future clients are going to be experiencing. One recent example being COVID-19. I am really, really struggling with virtual and remote learning. I feel as if my education is being compromised, I miss physical connection, and I am learning to be a hands-on therapist through hands-off learning. However, I know everyone is going through this. Dental, medical, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, etc. are just to name a few that are also having to learn how to be health care professionals from home. So in order to combat this external force, I have had to learn to be positive, adaptable, and seize every opportunity to enhance my learning from where I am at, which is home.
We all have an External or Internal Locus of Control and you, like me, might be somewhere in the middle. As future occupational therapists, we have to learn how to take that and put it to use to benefit our future clients. Let's put ourself in their shoe's, what external forces are happening to them that they cannot change? What motivates them, what are their internal drives? How can we meet them in the middle to make sure they are able to participate in their occupations at their maximum occupational performance? Wherever we are on the spectrum, one thing we will always be able to control is our outlook and attitude toward every situation. I hope to be a positive external factor that blends seamlessly with every single one of my future clients Internal Locus of Control.
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