(no subject)
Things have been super busy ever since I started my new job but right now I finally have a few minutes to write an update! I was able to get off work an hour earlier today and with spring in the air the extra day light really helped lift my mood and I guess made me more productive.
For now my work hours are from 9am-5pm and it takes me up to 40 minutes to get to work. The walk from my home to the train stop is about less than 10 minutes and then I ride the train for 4 stops which usually is a travel time of less than 10 minutes, also the train is usually only a few minutes away or arrives when I get to the train station. When I get off the train, I like to stop and get a coffee and then I walk to my place of work. The distance is 0.6 miles but with the snow, ice and puddles that are still covering the sidewalks it takes me a while longer to walk there so usually I'll arrive in 10-15 minutes. So it's not a very bad commute via public transportation, sometimes I take an Uber or Lawrence drives me and it's about a 10 minute drive. I would prefer not to take public transportation because I don't want my clients to potentially follow me or anything like that but during the hours I commute I feel safe and I know sooner or later I'll get over my driving anxieties and will be able to drive myself to work and back.
At work I have 8 clients. They're all juvenile offenders that have come out of juvenile dentition, are wards of the state and are at that age where they can't be placed in foster care or be adopted because they will soon be 21 and will need to transition into independent living. It's been no secret that I don't like children or teens very much, so working with these kids from age 17-20 have really been putting my patience to the test. About 5 of my clients do not give me a hard time and are compliant with me but the other 3 are nightmares. They are always trying to test my boundaries, constantly threatening me, disobeying rules and creating resistance. I know during my first few days they were trying to size me up and probably thought because I'm a young, petite woman, soft spoken and friendly that I would be a push over or something but I told them verbatim "don't get it twisted, I can handle mine so try me, I don't play no games." Lol yeah, probably not in the most professional tone there but sometimes you got to meet them at their level and lay the ground work. Coming into this position, I had my heart set on really doing everything in my power to help these kids and get them on the right track but with 1.5 weeks on the job, I'm more aware of all the limitations that would prevent me from doing things my way due to the agency's policies and the safety precautions needed to work with this population. So I've adopted somewhat more of a passive approach. I let all my clients know that my office door is open and that I'll always be willing to listen and help them out with whatever they need, but I'm not going to get into any shouting matches or chase after them to make positive changes. These clients are aggressive and violent and most of them are over 6" feet tall, like seriously one of my clients is 6"7 and 300 something lbs. Yep, they're some big boys. So I'm not going to put my safety at risk and jeopardize my job because they don't want to hear or make the positive changes to their lifestyle that I'm trying to help them out with. Well luckily the biggest guy there as I just described has a great rapport with me and so if shit goes down, at least I have an ally lol. On the other hand the smallest client I have is the one I really need to watch out for because he'll talk to me politely, thinks he can try to outsmart and manipulate me and is constantly scheming and plotting something and frankly he gives me the creeps. But for the most part, I'm helping them learn how to express themselves better (enunciating their words, not cursing, using better vocabulary), teaching them non-violent communication, how to resolve conflicts, healthy relationships, safe sex, how to be self-sufficient, working past the trauma they experienced and overall just teaching them how to be persons of good moral standing while also being self-sufficient.
As for my co-workers, I'm getting along with them just fine. There are definitely people that I prefer working with over others and no way in hell will I allow the agency to schedule me to work alone on the unit even though some of my coworkers may not like it. Some of them have been giving glowing reviews about me while others probably don't have much to say about me yet. The intern that comes in on the other hand likes to talk my ear off and rambles on and on about everything and nothing, it can be pretty annoying sometimes. But that's also one of my clients, he's an attention seeker and will always try to sell me a million stories. Sometimes I make progress with him because he's one of the less aggressive clients who are willing to change their habits but other times he just wants to act goofy and do his own thing, it can be frustrating especially on the days where I feel like I have no patience and no tolerance at all.
But all and all the job is going well, things can be pretty laid back and I would like to see more structure in our unit but it's been a great place to start my counseling career. However, being the ambitious person I am I don't think I'll stay there for more than six months because at that time I can put in a transfer to work at another unit in our agency, hopefully be up for a promotion and move to a higher level position. This week and next, I'm actually getting a break from working with my clients on the unit and doing a pre-service training, where I'll be certified for my first-aid, CPR, crisis intervention training and some other stuff. It's great because not only is the agency paying for it but of course I'm getting paid to sit through these trainings, meet other people in the agencies with different roles and so far it's been a lot of fun. During the orientation of the pre-service training, luck would have it that I sat next to our CEO without even knowing it and when we had to partner up and do an ice-breaker activity to get to know each other she asked me a lot of questions about my experience, skill sets and academic background so basically it almost turned into me orally giving her my resume in a casual, humorous setting. Apparently she was very impressed by me and told me that I would definitely be a shoe-in for higher positions after I completed at least six months at my unit so that I've built a foundation with our agency and so that it wouldn't disturb the schedules and roles just yet if I switched so suddenly. Then she escorted me into their new music room for a tour and told me I would make a lovely music therapist. I think that may be something I'll be interested in. After that I did a short shift on the young sex offenders unit and that definitely gave me a brand new outlook on children and I think I would much rather work with the younger population than the age group I'm currently serving.
In the meantime I'm also keeping things going at Pawsitive Petcare. Tomorrow morning Daisy arrives, that 3 lbs Yorkie that was smitten with Lawrence will be staying for around 12 days and then Samson that big dog that weights more than me (Irish Wolfhound, Standard Poodle mix) will be staying with me for a couple of days. I'm excited to see my returning clients! And since it's March, tons of people are going on spring break and have been asking me if they could board their dogs with me but I had to say no and reject their booking requests because it'll just be too much to handle caring for a new dog with unpredictable behaviors while I'm gone for 8 hours a day. I know Charlie has been missing me a ton whenever I leave for work in the morning because ever since he was three months old up until now I spent most of my days with him, but Lawrence has been helping him adjust and I always take care of all his needs in the morning and then I'm home later in the day to spend more time with him so I think he'll get used to it. I do miss him while I'm at work so I flip through my phone to look at adorable pictures of him I've taken hehe.
This afternoon, after I got off work Lawrence came to pick me up and when I got home I freshened up, walked Charlie and shortly after we were invited to go out for dinner at this charming, little, Italian restaurant. We accepted the invite and the food was great, they had fresh made pasta and a nice cheese selection. I enjoyed it and was able to relax, have a drink and socialize with people outside of my field. It was nice and just the little break I needed. I love doing little spontaneous things like that in the middle the week =). Alrighty now I'm off to bed so that I can up earlier for work tomorrow for Daisy to be dropped off and then going to our agency's downtown location for the special training session. Goodnight everyone!
For now my work hours are from 9am-5pm and it takes me up to 40 minutes to get to work. The walk from my home to the train stop is about less than 10 minutes and then I ride the train for 4 stops which usually is a travel time of less than 10 minutes, also the train is usually only a few minutes away or arrives when I get to the train station. When I get off the train, I like to stop and get a coffee and then I walk to my place of work. The distance is 0.6 miles but with the snow, ice and puddles that are still covering the sidewalks it takes me a while longer to walk there so usually I'll arrive in 10-15 minutes. So it's not a very bad commute via public transportation, sometimes I take an Uber or Lawrence drives me and it's about a 10 minute drive. I would prefer not to take public transportation because I don't want my clients to potentially follow me or anything like that but during the hours I commute I feel safe and I know sooner or later I'll get over my driving anxieties and will be able to drive myself to work and back.
At work I have 8 clients. They're all juvenile offenders that have come out of juvenile dentition, are wards of the state and are at that age where they can't be placed in foster care or be adopted because they will soon be 21 and will need to transition into independent living. It's been no secret that I don't like children or teens very much, so working with these kids from age 17-20 have really been putting my patience to the test. About 5 of my clients do not give me a hard time and are compliant with me but the other 3 are nightmares. They are always trying to test my boundaries, constantly threatening me, disobeying rules and creating resistance. I know during my first few days they were trying to size me up and probably thought because I'm a young, petite woman, soft spoken and friendly that I would be a push over or something but I told them verbatim "don't get it twisted, I can handle mine so try me, I don't play no games." Lol yeah, probably not in the most professional tone there but sometimes you got to meet them at their level and lay the ground work. Coming into this position, I had my heart set on really doing everything in my power to help these kids and get them on the right track but with 1.5 weeks on the job, I'm more aware of all the limitations that would prevent me from doing things my way due to the agency's policies and the safety precautions needed to work with this population. So I've adopted somewhat more of a passive approach. I let all my clients know that my office door is open and that I'll always be willing to listen and help them out with whatever they need, but I'm not going to get into any shouting matches or chase after them to make positive changes. These clients are aggressive and violent and most of them are over 6" feet tall, like seriously one of my clients is 6"7 and 300 something lbs. Yep, they're some big boys. So I'm not going to put my safety at risk and jeopardize my job because they don't want to hear or make the positive changes to their lifestyle that I'm trying to help them out with. Well luckily the biggest guy there as I just described has a great rapport with me and so if shit goes down, at least I have an ally lol. On the other hand the smallest client I have is the one I really need to watch out for because he'll talk to me politely, thinks he can try to outsmart and manipulate me and is constantly scheming and plotting something and frankly he gives me the creeps. But for the most part, I'm helping them learn how to express themselves better (enunciating their words, not cursing, using better vocabulary), teaching them non-violent communication, how to resolve conflicts, healthy relationships, safe sex, how to be self-sufficient, working past the trauma they experienced and overall just teaching them how to be persons of good moral standing while also being self-sufficient.
As for my co-workers, I'm getting along with them just fine. There are definitely people that I prefer working with over others and no way in hell will I allow the agency to schedule me to work alone on the unit even though some of my coworkers may not like it. Some of them have been giving glowing reviews about me while others probably don't have much to say about me yet. The intern that comes in on the other hand likes to talk my ear off and rambles on and on about everything and nothing, it can be pretty annoying sometimes. But that's also one of my clients, he's an attention seeker and will always try to sell me a million stories. Sometimes I make progress with him because he's one of the less aggressive clients who are willing to change their habits but other times he just wants to act goofy and do his own thing, it can be frustrating especially on the days where I feel like I have no patience and no tolerance at all.
But all and all the job is going well, things can be pretty laid back and I would like to see more structure in our unit but it's been a great place to start my counseling career. However, being the ambitious person I am I don't think I'll stay there for more than six months because at that time I can put in a transfer to work at another unit in our agency, hopefully be up for a promotion and move to a higher level position. This week and next, I'm actually getting a break from working with my clients on the unit and doing a pre-service training, where I'll be certified for my first-aid, CPR, crisis intervention training and some other stuff. It's great because not only is the agency paying for it but of course I'm getting paid to sit through these trainings, meet other people in the agencies with different roles and so far it's been a lot of fun. During the orientation of the pre-service training, luck would have it that I sat next to our CEO without even knowing it and when we had to partner up and do an ice-breaker activity to get to know each other she asked me a lot of questions about my experience, skill sets and academic background so basically it almost turned into me orally giving her my resume in a casual, humorous setting. Apparently she was very impressed by me and told me that I would definitely be a shoe-in for higher positions after I completed at least six months at my unit so that I've built a foundation with our agency and so that it wouldn't disturb the schedules and roles just yet if I switched so suddenly. Then she escorted me into their new music room for a tour and told me I would make a lovely music therapist. I think that may be something I'll be interested in. After that I did a short shift on the young sex offenders unit and that definitely gave me a brand new outlook on children and I think I would much rather work with the younger population than the age group I'm currently serving.
In the meantime I'm also keeping things going at Pawsitive Petcare. Tomorrow morning Daisy arrives, that 3 lbs Yorkie that was smitten with Lawrence will be staying for around 12 days and then Samson that big dog that weights more than me (Irish Wolfhound, Standard Poodle mix) will be staying with me for a couple of days. I'm excited to see my returning clients! And since it's March, tons of people are going on spring break and have been asking me if they could board their dogs with me but I had to say no and reject their booking requests because it'll just be too much to handle caring for a new dog with unpredictable behaviors while I'm gone for 8 hours a day. I know Charlie has been missing me a ton whenever I leave for work in the morning because ever since he was three months old up until now I spent most of my days with him, but Lawrence has been helping him adjust and I always take care of all his needs in the morning and then I'm home later in the day to spend more time with him so I think he'll get used to it. I do miss him while I'm at work so I flip through my phone to look at adorable pictures of him I've taken hehe.
This afternoon, after I got off work Lawrence came to pick me up and when I got home I freshened up, walked Charlie and shortly after we were invited to go out for dinner at this charming, little, Italian restaurant. We accepted the invite and the food was great, they had fresh made pasta and a nice cheese selection. I enjoyed it and was able to relax, have a drink and socialize with people outside of my field. It was nice and just the little break I needed. I love doing little spontaneous things like that in the middle the week =). Alrighty now I'm off to bed so that I can up earlier for work tomorrow for Daisy to be dropped off and then going to our agency's downtown location for the special training session. Goodnight everyone!