Tying Up Loose Ends And A Website

This has been a repetitive theme of my blog lately and I apologize for boring people to tears, but I'm fitting in another "end of the semester" blog entry.

Tomorrow's the last day at my internship site and I'm so sad about it. I've loved it over there so much. I'd work there for free if I could. OK, maybe not, but I've enjoyed it that much. I'm going to miss the patients so much even though they're only there for about a week at a time and the crowd is constantly changing. I feel like I've actually made a difference in these kid's lives. I see kids come into the hospital in a really bad off way and leave with a smile on their face and it feels so good to know that they have that fighting chance.

I had a family session at the end of the day today and thought to myself "that went horrible, she's not leaving anytime soon." The reason she's not leaving anytime soon is that she's still a threat to her family. Basically, people come into the hospital because they're a threat to themselves or a threat to others. Usually suicidal or homicidal attempts or ideation. We don't discharge them until the doctor thinks they're no longer suicidal or homicidal. So when I realized that the girl wasn't going home because she was still a threat to others, I had this moment of awakening that all of the other people who do go home have actually changed and they're actually not a threat to others anymore (for the moment at least). It felt so good to come to that realization and to think that I may have had a hand in steering them towards the change that they need to make. I definitely think that it's the client that does the work and makes the change. I take no responsibility for that. But it's nice to think that I might've put a spark into someone's mind that ignited a fire for change.

So now I'm getting nervous about not being able to find a job. I talked to a girl today who works at a grief counseling center for children down here and she said she would give my name and number to her boss. That made me happy. I'd love to do that. There's really not a whole lot of places to work with children here in New Orleans. That's the population I want to work with. I love working with adolescents. I've enjoyed it so much this semester and I know that's where I belong. Just can't find a place that will pay me to do that. I can do that in private practice, but I need somewhere to work while I'm getting my licensure first. We'll see.

On a totally different note, I've sparked up quite a conversation in the comments section of a previous post about a website that Marina told me about. The website is bookcloseouts.com. Now, in addition to that, bookfool went on to tell me about currentcodes.com that has a code for bookcloseouts.com that offers an additional savings. The bookcloseouts.com website offers all kinds of really great books at, you got it, close out prices. I scored 10 books for $60.15 after shipping. All of the books were hardcover or trade paperbacks. Marina also told me that you can enter a wishlist and it lets you know when books you want become available as closeout books. WARNING!! This is a VERY dangerous website ;) Stephanie wanted to know what books I bought, so here they are:

1. Wyrms by Orson Scott Card
2. The Book Of Ballads by Charles Vess and others
3. The Faery Reel ed. by Terri Windling Illus. by Charles Vess
4. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
5. Into the Green by Charles de Lint
6. Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
7. Tithe by Holly Black
8. What it Takes to Pull Me Through by David Marcus
9. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
10. Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser

Not a bad list, eh?

Much Better Day

So today was much better orientation wise. I learned stuff that actually applied to my internship. I learned how to get out of the many different situations I may be in if clients try to kill or harm me (which doesn't happen often if at all). I also learned how to put people into restraints. The restraint room was freaky looking, but very needed occasionally from what I understand. It's just a plain white sheeted bed away from the walls in the middle of the room with lightbulb above it. And that's it. People are restrained at the ankles and wrists and across the chest so they don't injure their backs. I always thought restraints were ridiculous and cruel, but they're really not. They're needed sometimes and only used if nothing else (therapy, medication, a shot) doesn't calm them down and they are trying to inflict harm on themselves or someone else. It is never used as punishment and someone constantly watches them while in restraints.

I'm really excited about working here. I know this is the right profession for me because this is the first job I've ever had that I wasn't nervous going into. Everyone keeps saying that the adolescent unit is very rough, but hey, I like a challenge. I was told that they are very defensive, call you every name in the book every day, and like to try to get to you; but at the same time, they can be the best people to be around and there's never a dull moment. The way I look at it is this...lord knows I had my troubles in my adolescents. I was on drugs, got kicked out of school, was arrested for tearing up someone's garden, and I made it out o.k. Some kids don't make it out o.k., and I want a chance of being that person that does help them out. As soon as I cleaned my life up and got to the position that I'm in today, I knew that I wanted to work with kids in a psychiatric setting. To me, there's no other profession that would be more rewarding personally. I just have to make sure I don't attach myself to these kids too much. But from what I've heard, they'll make it hard for me to attach to them ;p just kidding, I'm sure I'll love it.

Finally, on a totally different note, I posted yesterday about one of my favorite artists, Lisa Snellings-Clark and her magical poppets. She just posted a blog today that has one of her new poppet sculptures, a painting that she did, and a picture of her big poppet sculpture next to one of her little red poppets (one of which i own :). You can admire her latest beautiful work here.