On Thursday, I came in contact with a situation that would be the first of many to come I'm sure. It caught me of guard and over the past couple days I have been contemplated if I handled it correctly or what I might have done differently. It's been contributing to me not sleeping, besides the fact that since May 15th I've had to sleep in my bed alone without my cuddle partner. What better way to get it out of my head than to blog about it!
As many of you know, I am now on my 3rd semester of graduate school at UNLV, pursuing my Masters degree in Community Mental Health Counseling with concentrations in Addictions and Trauma. Going into this program, I was completely convinced I wanted to work with professional athletes suffering from addictions. I knew this would combine my two passions in life, sports and helping others. However, our program gives us many options to explore ALL areas of counseling and gain experience in different fields.
In January, when I needed to choose a site for my practicum, I knew I wanted to challenge myself by working with veterans. My advisor convinced me that U.S. Vets would be the perfect site to not only work with Vets, but also see the main sides of their lives that were causing problems besides addictions and homelessness. When he said the clients there would keep me on my toes, he definitely wasn't kidding. I loved being around them and hearing their stories on a daily basis. They were men and women who had gone from having no hope to being completely full of it. For this reason, I decided to officially become an intern for the next stage of my program.
This summer was the start of my 600 hours in internship experience. Luckily, its approved for us to do 200 of those hours over summer instead of all of them in fall. If I had to do 600 hours in one semester, I might not have any hair come December and I'm sure Corey would not be too happy about the time he would get to spend with me. With him gone in Hawaii, I could fully concentrate on getting the most of this experience.
Because of the nature of the program, clients come and go. One week you might see them and have an AMAZING session, and the next week find out they graduated without telling you or were discharged for breaking program rules. I've lucked out with a couple steady ones that I have definitely learned a great deal from. And yes, they keep me on my toes 24/7 because I never know what it going to come out of their mouth. Lucky for me, having four brothers and a HUGE family, they aren't going to say anything I haven't heard before. Thursday would present my biggest challenge!
There are only a few occassions where it is okay for me to break confidentiality with my clients. They are all very aware of what those situations are before they even say anything to me and I remind them of that at the beginning of every session. Thursday I had to break confidentiality for the first time for several reasons and was scared out of my mind to do so. For purposes of not disclosing what happened and keeping damage to a minimal, let's just say 911, the cops, an ambulance, and several case managers were involved. I will not be seeing this client anymore either. The staff couldn't have been more happy with how I handled everything and were very proud of me.
I went back and forth all night on Thursday wondering if this client was going to get the help he needed now. I felt bad in the sense that I did not make the progress I wanted to with him. However, that is probably going to happen a lot in my profession. This situation reassured me that I cannot go into my sessions expecting a certain outcome because I probably won't see it. I need to walk into them knowing that I am only going to be able to help them as much as our relationship will allow.
I have stated this several times that I know I am in the right place at the right time. My life couldn't be more perfect right now. I have an amazing boyfriend who loves me no matter how crazy I can be sometimes. I have a small group of people I call best friends, friends that will continue to add humor into my life. I am part of a nation-leading academic program that will pave the way for my future in a good direction. I will walk at graduation in May with a MASTERS degree at the young age of 25, way ahead of the curve. I get to intern at a government-funded program that is the best use of the United States' money that I could think of other than education. But most of all, I have a family that will love me after any decision I make, whether they agree with it or not.
This summer and my internship have truly made me realize the importance of support systems and how meaningful they can be to the growth of a human being. I have been fortunate enough to always have people backing me! My support system guides me in the right direction on a daily basis and not many people have that. I wouldn't trade them for the world.
So thank you support system.....You mean more to me than you will ever know!!!!
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman
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