I've just finished my second week at my new job and it is so fantastic. I can't believe I really have this job. I've spent so many years doing jobs that weren't what I REALLY wanted to do just to help us get to the next step. It's hard to believe I'm actually here. I'm a therapist. Ha!
I saw my first clients this week. So far, I've just been doing assessments with our staff psychologist. It's been a nice way to ease into talking with the folks, since the assessment instrument has a million questions (seriously, it's 13 pages!) that have to be asked, so it's really pretty structured. Even so, I'm blown away by how much goes on in the lives of so many people. The assessment thing is a bit hard because our agency can only work with clients who have a formal DSM diagnosis. I believe that anyone would benefit from therapy and I see all of these kids who would naturally benefit from having support services, but may not have a mental illness. It's tricky. I hate the idea of labeling kids at all, but if I don't, they don't get services. I saw a family earlier this week with 3 kids. The psychologist and I determined that two of them do meet criteria for services, but the youngest one is just a rambunctious, curious 6 year-old boy. Even though they can be a handful, there's nothing clinically significant about that. It was hard to make the call that one brother wouldn't get services while the other kids would. That's part of the work, though. Even with these dilemmas, I'm so glad to be here. This week, I met with the case worker who handles my therapy clients and got the back stories from her. I also got to meet one of my clients, who participates in our after school program. I have my first two therapy appointments next week and I'm very excited. I'm also very nervous! I've been trying to read everything I can get my hands on, but I'm not being terribly efficient about it. I keep finding something else that seems more relevant and move on to the next thing before I finish anything. I also received the test prep handbook for my licensing exam this week and I feel like I need to re-read every textbook I used in my grad program in order to pass that test. Yikes. I think I need to start investigating some speed reading classes!
1 comment:
I'm so happy that you are so enthusiastic and excited about your job! It sounds like it is really rewarding for you and that is awesome. Don't stress too much about re-reading material; you know it and it will come to you. If all else fails, you can lean on your Rogerian skills. Listen to me, talking like I know anything about anything! I just know you'll be great, though, and have nothing to worry about. Love you!
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