Settling In ... Sort Of

It was a fun, stressful, busy week. Just when I think I'm in the groove and catching up a bit, I get another assignment from my California client. I'm grateful for for the work, but finding it really difficult to switch gears from my newly reacquired facility with school work to researching and writing legal web pages. Besides psychology is a lot more interesting!

Out in the World

I started the week with my Career Counseling class at the Denver Center for International Studies, a magnet school that serves grades 6-12. We each met with a student and learned a little about his/her background and career aspirations after s/he took the Strong Interest Inventory, a tool that assesses career preferences. We'll meet with our students again in a couple weeks to explain their test results and make  recommendations.

My student, Yoanna, is a junior. When she graduates from high school, she'll be only the third member of her family to do so and she'll be the first to go to college. She's a good student, very bright (taking two AP classes) and has a lot of interests. I enjoyed getting to know her and hope I can provide some useful information for her. [Of course, it's not all fun and games: a formal Client Assessment paper on the student is due Nov 18.]

Counseling ... Sort Of

Then I handed in my Techniques midterm, a video of a 20-minute counseling session with a student/client from the other class section, accompanied by a self-assessment paper. The hardest part of school so far is having to watch myself on video. Horrific. What made the midterm particularly challenging is that my partner was using a scenario from a friend of hers, so there was no "snake under the water." In other words, it wasn't possible to unearth any real issue because she had only adopted the facts of the matter. We'll find out how I did when I meet with the professor and TA on Wednesday to review the video.

More Jail

Yesterday, us newbies met with the Denver County Jail (DCJ) psychology staff for our first group supervision. Normally, these semi-monthly meetings consist of a presentation by one of the professionals on a relevant topic (suicide, ethics, group therapy, substance abuse, etc.) and two case presentations by student interns. This meeting, however, was an introduction to how the psych department interacts with the the Denver Sheriff Department (DSD) staff who run the jail. We learned about administrative and reporting requirements and more details about how to dress and conduct ourselves.

My worst mugshot ever.

 The staff consists of six professionals including four experienced, doctorate-level psychologists. Of the dozen or so interns in the group, I'm the only first year master's student. There are two second year students from my DU program and the rest are doctoral students, including Dree, the TA who has been so helpful in my getting this position. Although some of the doctoral students are cliquish because they're in the same program, everyone else is very friendly and helpful. What I appreciated most was that we got straight talk about the jail politics rather than a party line whitewash. I can't imagine a richer learning environment.

Life Outside School: Does it Exist?

It's a cold rainy day here in Lafayette. The rest of the family is headed up to the mountain house today to check out the new bathroom (number three) and to play in the snow. I'm staying here to write four legal web pages and complete my reading for the week (yeah, right). So I guess the answer to my question above is "not at the moment."

However, next weekend we're all spending Friday-Sunday in the mountains to celebrate my birthday. Although the prospect of another birthday is never pleasant, what a wonderful way to spend it!

I have many emails from you in my inbox and I promise I will answer them in the near future. Meanwhile, know that I very much appreciate your news and kind wishes. <3 <3 <3 Until soon...