summer break

John is out of school for the summer. Well, mostly. I am sneaking in two online classes this summer. In the fall I have four more traditional classes before graduation in December. Two weeks from tomorrow the boys will also be out for the summer. For the mean time, it gives one time to reflect in the downtime.

In one sense I am looking forward to the end of school work. In another, I understand it will only be a short transition back into the full time work force after being out of it since summer of 2004. This time around however, it will be meaningful work for which I have trained.

I finished my second semester of counseling internship at the end of spring semester.  Over the course of the school year I worked with clients struggling with personality disorders, couples relationship trauma, pornography addiction, cutting and suicidal issues, family dysfunction including divorce, self-image issues, and emotional abuse.  You would think that it would be good to have all that stuff off my plate.  In one sense, yes.  In another, I really miss it.

Part of missing it comes from being ultra busy for some 5 months straight then absolutely nothing.  Part of missing it comes from being around great colleagues and professionals who genuinely care for my development personally, professionally, and clinically.  There's also a lot of camaraderie built with others during that honing by fire.

There's also a lot to be said about the client work.  On many levels, it is one of the most powerful experiences I know when sitting with someone in the middle of their stuff and helping them see change in an area where they have been stuck.  When you work with clients you work hard to build a therapeutic alliance.  And after investing into those relationships it is not easy to just simply drop them like you're turning in a last assignment.  In that sense, it may even hurt a little to be a counselor. I realize though that internship is only partially like how real life counseling is going to be.  I do not think that one day you look up and say good-bye to your entire client load in a week or two.  I realize though there is natural turnover and that the goal of counseling is to put ourselves out of business; in other words, to help clients become self sufficient.

Even though it is not counseling, I have applied to be a volunteer at Fernside, a grief center for families.  It is two blocks from our house and part of Hospice of Cincinnati.  I have an interview with the volunteer coordinator tomorrow afternoon.  Having lost family members to cancer and other ailments, I can definitely relate to, and support their mission.  At this point, I do not know what my level of involvement will be.  I see this as something counseling related and a part time volunteer opportunity.  I also see it as a place where I can plug in and help others over the summer.  I helped out with a St. Elizabeth Hospital teen grief retreat in April and had a really positive experience.  I think working with Fernside on a part time basis could be a good fit.

Two of the challenges I see with counseling are focusing the compassion compass, and finding opportunities that can also feed the family.  There are certainly several areas to specialize.  Figuring out which one might be hard for me.  Also, long term I would like to open a private practice with some other colleagues after graduation and licensure.  I also like the idea of focusing on groups.  These are proven effective and even better, insurance companies like them too.  Private practice is going to be something I work toward.  Once I accumulate my license hours requirement, I would be open to the idea of supervision certification, and possibly pursuing a doctorate.  However, we will have to see where the business is at and what the family need is at that time.  For now, I am looking for counseling related opportunities and employment where possible.

Thanks for hanging through this decompression.

Now it is onto tougher things like planning out a summer of great activities for Dad and the boys, as well as family activities.