Internship excitement!

A story from my internship! I have survived week 3!!

     It's week three in lovely NY and I'm starting to earn more and more responsibilities such as writing the progress notes, co-plan groups, complete client interviews/assesments, and as of recent plan groups! Well today I got to plan the Friday afternoon group! I decided on planning Minute to Win it Games and I came up with 8 challenges. I spent basically my entire lunch hour planning and setting up for this. So its time to set up the group. I had visions of the kids jumping and cheering and working hard on these challenging activities and excitement in the room! I was hope for laughter and fun through out the group and wonderful discussion at the end.
    I had the room all set-up, I was a little late getting everything ready but the kids were flexible with me. we had three kids not attend. One was in the comfort room playing guitar (allowed to calm nerves, distract from thoughts, prevent harming actions for he had schizophrenia), one was asleep because he was on a med.holiday (completely stop all medications for 4+ days), and the other was talking about safety plans with her counselor (shes important so we will name her Ashley). So my group was 5 not including the activity assistant, the nurse and my supervisor. Well the first 2 challenges were funny, entertaining, and really hard but they stuck with them even when we had to stop because of time.  Ashley arrived after the second game and I thought she would love to jump right in to the activity. So i told her what we are doing and asked her to draw a number. Well as I asked her if she wanted to draw a number she growled at me. I told her "you dont have to play if you dont want to" but she said she will continue. So the teams challenge was for one person to try to keep three balloons in the air for one min. No more than 10 seconds after I said start, Ashley dropped the balloon, said "I give up" and stormed out of the room yelling "I hate these F____ H____!" and other loud profanities. The other kids and I did not hear this because another team mate decided to try and they started to go again. I could not leave the room and check on her. That is the job of the activity assistants. Sadly I had to discover the the distress tolerance level of Ashley first. Oh and apparently, during my explanation of the challenge, Ashley was resting her head on her hand with her middle finger up like Simon did from American Idol! i would have ignored it anywho and honestly it makes me laugh!
   From the beginning of group before Ashley arrived and after she left, the challenges were frustrating to the group and those trying to complete the tasks. So I was able to connect my processing questions to what are some ways to handle frustrating situations. Questions which required considering what happened and how could have it been handled differently. The kids in the end, though all stated they were angry and frustrated at one point loved the activities and asked we could leave them up for them to continue to practice/try.
    So from this group I learned a lot about myself, the group im working with, and also planning considerations. I although my intentions of including her were good, I should have let her watch the craziness of the challenges and how ppl handled their frustrations. I also learned that games that produce heart racing, time-beating, skill needing actions need to be proceeded with caution... My supervisor told me not to take anything Ashley said personally, she unknowing to us was already mad because of her meeting with her counselor, but that can be hard. When sitting through her initial client assessment, Ashley seemed like she could be a sweet girl and not so violent. I was slightly mad in myself for being the one to push her over the edge and I do long for her not to hate me and to have a good rapport with her, but I can not bog myself down with personal thoughts like that. The purpose of the group was to learn how to handle emotions/stressful situations. I haven't seen Ashley since because it was a Friday afternoon. I hope for the best when she sees me Tues. morning....

BRING IT ON!

"Bring it on" by Steven Curtis Chapman...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mktjoryv_8Y

WOW I just realized one very key point to this song. First when trouble comes our way there are MULTIPLE ways to handle it. You can give up and try to find the easy way out, try to ignore it, try to fix it, try to face it head on, or lean on others for help. Some Christians are taught that when something goes wrong you are strong because you have Jesus on your side. In fact, that is what I've grown up thinking. You can face anything if you have Jesus... I have also grown up listening to the song "Bring it On," its a powerful, encouraging song that seems to instill feelings of "Yeah I can do This! Bring it! Bring your worst!" Im like that. "Bring on the Challenge, the pain, the dirt and the grime! I can make it through this! Im a tough girl so GGGRRRrrrrr! I've got Jesus!"  But if you listen to the song, the person "bringing it on" is God/Jesus. whoops! probably not something you want to say to God's face...
Me: BRING IT ON WORLD! I can take it!
God:... uh no you cant...
Me: Yea I can! I got this! Im tough, God. Nothin can shake me! I've got Jesus so I've got this!
God: (God whips out epic sunglasses) Fool I'm trying to get your attention! You cant handle nothin with without me!

Oky so bad to seriousness...
God is making him weak so that he will lean on Him. God is bringing the rain, the storm, the high waves to make the singer turn to God and make their relationship stronger. So yea bring it on God so that I may turn to you with my hands wide open in humbleness saying God I need YOU to calm this storm. Bring it on so that I may run to you! In my personal life I am making choices that can make or literally break a person. (see next post) In order to proceed with confidence in my field I have to lean on God for guidance everyday in how I handle various levels of relationships, staying calm and flexible through mental storms, and to plan activities with unknown outcomes with new patients. It's easy to get into the mindset of "Bring it on! I have Jesus so I can handle what is thrown at me." But who's really trying to control the situation?

This time last year I started the blog Summer Proverbs as a way to turn to God in a time of loneliness, hurt, and confusion. It was probably my first actually taking steps towards God in a storm from the very beginning. Although I did not finish the book, nor kept up with my blog, I saw how turning to God opened my eyes to truth, where I was lacking in my relationship with Him and it prepared me for a year of learning to pray! :) WHAT AN AMAZING YEAR OVERALL!!

"Hello DBT skills, meet Life"

I'm going to start off by saying I LOVE MY INTERNSHIP! Not only am I learning recreational therapy skills, handling patients of a variety of sorts, and putting what I have been taught for 3 yrs into practice, I am also learning some basic life skills. For example being assertive as well as confident in my actions! I feel this internship is going to grow me so much as a person. Another part of this internship, or at least the facility, is the use of DBT skills.

DBT skills stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy and in short, consists of four content areas: m, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. I could write a blog describing all the different steps, the theory placed behind the creation of DBT skills, and the effectiveness of it in practice OR I could write about one part of the DBT skills and the importance I can place in my life.

This week seems to be about one of the DBT skills: Relationship skills. While currently I do not have any relationship problems, the skills taught are meant to be use in ANY sort of relationship. conversation with a boss, co-worker, friend, or family member, random cashier/clerk, waitress, ect. Under relationship skills there are three acronyms:

DEAR MAN:  Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce. Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate.
        This acronym is to reach a certain objective. A common example used on my unit is when you want to go to the movies and you have to ask your mom. Describe: What's going on?--"so my friends are going to see the Avengers", Express: What are your wants?-- "I would really like to join them." Assert: Why are you bringing this up?-- "Can you give me a ride to the theaters?" Reinforce: I would really appreciate a ride from you and to spend time with my friends. Mindful: Listen to the person even if its not the answer you expected, "I cant take you today I am too busy." Appear confident: (this is important when asking ppl of authority), Negotiate: If there is a possibility of a no..--"Can I help you with the chores so you have time to take me?"  That's right, you have to put in effort, time, energy, and something you probably don't want to do.

GIVE: Gentle, Interested, Validation, Easy Manner.
       This is to maintain and keep relationships. This is not for yourself as it is for the best of both parties. Example: your boss at work. Sometimes we do things we really dont want to do or dont always agree with (unless it invades our integrity of course) just so the boss the does not get annoyed with us. Be Gentle, truly listen and be interested in WHAT the person is saying, validate his/her words but confirming, agreeing to the asked task or simply restating the conversation like "From what you are saying, you are angry that he took your ball?" (like re-stating), and go with the flow, do not grumble or complain, do the task with a mad heart.

FAST: be Fair, no Apologies, Stick to values, be Truthful.
       This is to maintain self-respect! Fairly straight forward!

So there is a little bit about what my internship is teaching me... You can see where these areas apply almost EVERYDAY!

Which acronym can be the most effective in your life? Which one is the hardest for you?


I have been looking at this and I am going to apply DEAR MAN to the lady renting my house. My objective: allowing my boyfriend to spend a few nights with me in an empty house. So here is the ideal conversation! "Hi Ms. Landlady. So Mike has informed me that the house will be empty between these dates. Can my boyfriend visit me from (insert dates here)?" Idk how to reinforce this... and well from there I would listen to her ideas/answer. Maybe negotiate a price...(which i dont really want BUT i'd understand if it comes to that.) The key to DEAR MAN is to try hard for your objective but to also be flexible to earn this objective or maybe even a straight up "no" even when assertive... WISH ME LUCK <3

Chipmunk capital of the US

Oky so when you think of chipmunks you probably think of either the infamous Chip and Dale or little adorable rodents that you get to see while hiking through the woods and that is if you are very lucky and quiet. Well the impression of elusive, secretive little creatures went straight out my window when I went hiking on Morrison Trail in Allegheny National Forest, PA. (BEAUTIFUL trail btw!) Anywho during my 5.3 mile hike I began counting how many times I heard or saw a chipmunk. About .5 miles on the trail I got to 15... .5 miles! thats a chipmunk basically everywhere... I decided to give up counting and just enjoy my hike and try not to step on the running rodents. They are still so cute though but I didnt realize how prominent they were untill I went hiking and then on the drive back home I saw them playing/fighting/running around in the streets like squirrels in NC! They bascially were like the crazy squirrels in NC but small and (lucky for them) cuter looking...
Below is a pic of the first chipmunk I saw in NY...basically the first living creature I saw moving into my temporary home.  <3

OT questions and a prideful heart

WARNING:
DO NOT, i repeat, DO NOT READ THE OLD TESTAMENT WITH PRIDE IN YOUR HEART!

An explanation is in order. I am currently reading through the Old testament with my boyfriend! What an amazing idea and every night we end in prayer. Well I have discovered two things about myself from this...
one: I can't retain much philosophical information or hold a deep conversation when I am tired. There are wonderful times, however, when at night I light up with insight or energy and mental capacity to be able to yak ad learn more then during the day...sadly those times are few.
two: I am still a prideful little twit. (idk if I used it right but it seems fitting atm). I already had an idea of how much I can be prideful...its what led me to realize the amount of sin in my life and the need for God! But I did not realize where i still held my pride.

  So my pride lies within my so called knowledge of who God is. If you are a seasoned reader/follower then maybe you knew that I grew up in a Christian family, church all the time, and thankfully, a true understanding of God's love, forgiveness, and the amazing Good News which led to our forgiveness, salvation, and adoption into a forever family with Him and each other. WELL because of that, I feel I know a great deal about the bible and I can answer any question thrown at me! I know all the basic answers about Jesus and God. At least I thought I did...

Now my boyfriend and I are reading through the OT, making observations, seeing what stands out to us and questions we have. My bf is kinda really smart, wise, discerning, and well I can go on and on about him really. So with these traits he really knows how to ask the deep theological questions that I honestly never see or skip over. A part of me loves it! another part of me becomes frustrated because I do not know the OT very well at ALL. So when questions are asked i feel the need to give the RIGHT answer. In my head I think: "I know a lot about the bible, I should be able to answer this!" and well, i cant. I know there are no right answers to most theological questions,only more questions. But somehow during the discussions, questions and attempts to find the right answers my heart and mind closes off and is not TRULY open to what my boyfriend has to say.

That i despise about myself. How is that loving? Its not! But I am working through it. I know God place me with my boyfriend for more than just enjoyment and passion, but for someone to truly grow and challenge me like never before! Its going to take some time but here are the steps I am going to take to prevent a closed mind and to remain open to whatever God and my boyfriend have to teach me!

A) I will pray before every conversation I have with my boyfriend
B) I will humble myself with facts presented to me
C) I will attempt to do research that is accurate/reliable/valid (that will be hard...)


I am so hopeful for the summer because of this challenge and growth presented at me! I am changing everyday, I pray it is for the best!