Internship Week 1!!
First week went great! The staff is wonderful and weird, and they keep reassuring me that I'll fit right in! lol!
The site serves medicare clients, and there is quite a bit of casework because many of our clients don't have basic services or skills. Everything is integrated once clients get into the system, but I think we turn a lot of clients away or refer them out too. So I'm part of a cog in this machine. On the other hand, it's comforting knowing that there is a procedure for everything.
My supervisor has ADD, so even just hanging out with her is an adventure. Yet, when she is with a client, she is totally there, with that hyper-focus that some ADD folks get. It seems to work for the clients she sees. I was fortunate to be able to do an hour of co-therapy with a client who is scheduled to become mine in two weeks (!!), and to observe a diagnosis session. At our clinic, by the time you see a client, they've been diagnosed and seen a psychiatrist. Some even have treatment plans. Everything is documented really well (we get audited often by the state or by our internal system, so everyone works hard to keep up on their paperwork). I also got to join a group using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (seems to be the system of choice for clinicians working here). The clients welcomed me and were excited to have a new intern on staff (there are four!! of us, but I was the one that folks have been meeting). I've been to a couple of trainings already, including Bloodbourne Pathogens and HIV/AIDS training, which is required in our state for licensure. Woohoo!
I'm pumped for next week. I even got to set up my office, which I share with another intern. The building used to be a nursing home, so each room has a broken sink and toilet (ha!). But they don't feel stuffy like some offices do, and my office at least gets a lot of light. I'll have to get them to order me some lamps as there is no overhead lighting (no harm there, I suppose, since our books recommend indirect lighting anyway). I'm looking forward to going back. I thought it would be awkward--like starting any new job is--but I decided that it wouldn't. Now I need to brush up on my theories and start practicing. It's amazing how much stuff you realize you know when you're actually in the place where it is most relevant. Now that I have a context for it all, it's really coming in to place. I also see places where I'm lacking, like pharmacology, but folks have been kind enough to explain.
Also, I just have to brag, folks have been impressed with how well my school prepared me for the field. I was able to spot a personality disorder during the diagnosis session, and discuss why I would or wouldn't put down the diagnosis on the form right away and how it might affect treatment. She said it was clear that I'd looked through the whole DSM and the literature around it. Folks are getting a good impression of Amridge. :-) Just doing my part!
I might write a little about my internship experience, but keep in mind that there is a lot of information that I can't share with you for both legal and ethical reasons. I learned from last time. :-) I'm well aware of my obligations here. Unlike the teaching profession, the counseling profession has it laid out exactly and precisely, and there isn't really a question about it. Most of the stuff wouldn't be of interest to you anyway, so I likely won't write much about clients.
Last week, we stayed at my brother's place to cat-sit, which was lovely and helped me be less stressed about getting to work. I even cleaned up a little for him, although he did a pretty good job of cleaning before we got there. Anyhoo, next week we'll likely be staying up at the church with Pete, who has graciously offered us the use of the trailer which we're moving to the front yard. It's good for him to have someone around more often, and good for me because it saves me at least an hour drive each way. When work is over, we'll likely go home to Puyallup to love on our cats and attempt to relax before the next week starts.
That's when I'll do my homework, most likely, since I don't think I'll have the internet power available to participate in my classes live. My dad is loaning me the little red notebook, which has a camera, so I can theoretically do my live classes wherever I am, but I've found that not having a good source of internet has made doing so difficult so far--like when I was on vacation and had to turn in a paper. That was unnecessarily stressful. You'd think there'd be internet everywhere! Turns out there is, but people lock it. Greedy bastards...
M is convinced that he needs a job (yay!) and has started applying to a few places. Of course, they take forever to get back to him, and without his own car, we're not sure how it'll all work out. I told him to get a job, and then we'll arrange around it. He was pretty bored this week while I was interning. I told him he'd be less bored if he had his own thing he was doing. He's worried we won't spend as much time together, which is true. But I told him we'd have lots to share and talk about when we are together. And the double-household lifestyle will force us to keep communication up. The situation isn't ideal, but there's no helping it. I'm open for a simpler method of living, but lack the means to do it. I told M if he gets a decent job, we might be able to move out on our own. He's really attached to this house and living in Puyallup as he's never really left home. I told him we could always come back and live here. I'm not attached to the house. I'm pretty sure it's trying to kill us, and with the extra roommate and all her stuff everywhere, it's been less than fun. Especially since we cleaned the heck out of this place to prepare for her, and they haven't even put her stuff away yet. I'm sure it sucks to live out of a suitcase. I'm hoping that she'll hate it here and force them to move out. Then there will be enough room for everyone and everything. I'm doing my part to clean out stuff, and dropped almost all our VHS off at the Good Will. I think I'll try and get rid of some other things. Maybe I don't need a box of craft supplies this early in my life. Or I need more tupperware to store it in until I do need it. Yeah. That's it. And a lot less paper. Maybe I'll go through those boxes and throw stuff away while I'm listening to class. Hmm.
Anyway, exciting changes. Need money. Stressed out. What else is new?
The site serves medicare clients, and there is quite a bit of casework because many of our clients don't have basic services or skills. Everything is integrated once clients get into the system, but I think we turn a lot of clients away or refer them out too. So I'm part of a cog in this machine. On the other hand, it's comforting knowing that there is a procedure for everything.
My supervisor has ADD, so even just hanging out with her is an adventure. Yet, when she is with a client, she is totally there, with that hyper-focus that some ADD folks get. It seems to work for the clients she sees. I was fortunate to be able to do an hour of co-therapy with a client who is scheduled to become mine in two weeks (!!), and to observe a diagnosis session. At our clinic, by the time you see a client, they've been diagnosed and seen a psychiatrist. Some even have treatment plans. Everything is documented really well (we get audited often by the state or by our internal system, so everyone works hard to keep up on their paperwork). I also got to join a group using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (seems to be the system of choice for clinicians working here). The clients welcomed me and were excited to have a new intern on staff (there are four!! of us, but I was the one that folks have been meeting). I've been to a couple of trainings already, including Bloodbourne Pathogens and HIV/AIDS training, which is required in our state for licensure. Woohoo!
I'm pumped for next week. I even got to set up my office, which I share with another intern. The building used to be a nursing home, so each room has a broken sink and toilet (ha!). But they don't feel stuffy like some offices do, and my office at least gets a lot of light. I'll have to get them to order me some lamps as there is no overhead lighting (no harm there, I suppose, since our books recommend indirect lighting anyway). I'm looking forward to going back. I thought it would be awkward--like starting any new job is--but I decided that it wouldn't. Now I need to brush up on my theories and start practicing. It's amazing how much stuff you realize you know when you're actually in the place where it is most relevant. Now that I have a context for it all, it's really coming in to place. I also see places where I'm lacking, like pharmacology, but folks have been kind enough to explain.
Also, I just have to brag, folks have been impressed with how well my school prepared me for the field. I was able to spot a personality disorder during the diagnosis session, and discuss why I would or wouldn't put down the diagnosis on the form right away and how it might affect treatment. She said it was clear that I'd looked through the whole DSM and the literature around it. Folks are getting a good impression of Amridge. :-) Just doing my part!
I might write a little about my internship experience, but keep in mind that there is a lot of information that I can't share with you for both legal and ethical reasons. I learned from last time. :-) I'm well aware of my obligations here. Unlike the teaching profession, the counseling profession has it laid out exactly and precisely, and there isn't really a question about it. Most of the stuff wouldn't be of interest to you anyway, so I likely won't write much about clients.
Last week, we stayed at my brother's place to cat-sit, which was lovely and helped me be less stressed about getting to work. I even cleaned up a little for him, although he did a pretty good job of cleaning before we got there. Anyhoo, next week we'll likely be staying up at the church with Pete, who has graciously offered us the use of the trailer which we're moving to the front yard. It's good for him to have someone around more often, and good for me because it saves me at least an hour drive each way. When work is over, we'll likely go home to Puyallup to love on our cats and attempt to relax before the next week starts.
That's when I'll do my homework, most likely, since I don't think I'll have the internet power available to participate in my classes live. My dad is loaning me the little red notebook, which has a camera, so I can theoretically do my live classes wherever I am, but I've found that not having a good source of internet has made doing so difficult so far--like when I was on vacation and had to turn in a paper. That was unnecessarily stressful. You'd think there'd be internet everywhere! Turns out there is, but people lock it. Greedy bastards...
M is convinced that he needs a job (yay!) and has started applying to a few places. Of course, they take forever to get back to him, and without his own car, we're not sure how it'll all work out. I told him to get a job, and then we'll arrange around it. He was pretty bored this week while I was interning. I told him he'd be less bored if he had his own thing he was doing. He's worried we won't spend as much time together, which is true. But I told him we'd have lots to share and talk about when we are together. And the double-household lifestyle will force us to keep communication up. The situation isn't ideal, but there's no helping it. I'm open for a simpler method of living, but lack the means to do it. I told M if he gets a decent job, we might be able to move out on our own. He's really attached to this house and living in Puyallup as he's never really left home. I told him we could always come back and live here. I'm not attached to the house. I'm pretty sure it's trying to kill us, and with the extra roommate and all her stuff everywhere, it's been less than fun. Especially since we cleaned the heck out of this place to prepare for her, and they haven't even put her stuff away yet. I'm sure it sucks to live out of a suitcase. I'm hoping that she'll hate it here and force them to move out. Then there will be enough room for everyone and everything. I'm doing my part to clean out stuff, and dropped almost all our VHS off at the Good Will. I think I'll try and get rid of some other things. Maybe I don't need a box of craft supplies this early in my life. Or I need more tupperware to store it in until I do need it. Yeah. That's it. And a lot less paper. Maybe I'll go through those boxes and throw stuff away while I'm listening to class. Hmm.
Anyway, exciting changes. Need money. Stressed out. What else is new?