Week 3: Rejuvinated, Reenergized, Reframed

At the end of last week, I was still adjusting to a new workplace, a new living space, a new working pace....a new life. I was a little grumpy. I had spent a lot of time in front of a computer, and I didn't feel connected to people in the office.  After careful reflection and reframing, and in the spirit of the optimism I pride myself on, I would like to fill this blog post space with incredible opportunities I have experienced in the last week:

Interviews
I am now in charge of interviewing potential volunteers for ITA. I had another interview this week. I am learning not only how to interview someone else, but also how to be interviewed.  I've only ever been on the interviewee side, so I've only ever seen one person being interviewed: me. Now I have the opportunity to see other people on the interviewee side and learn from them.  I am understanding on a whole new level the importance of dressing up, firm handshakes, clear and concise responses. It's much like casting a show, a comparison that I am grateful to have as it is invaluable to have previously been on the "other side of the table".

Recurring Clinical Sessions
I am returning week after week to the same group Drama Therapy and Music Therapy sessions.  That means I'm forming relationships with clients, which makes it so much easier to be fully integrated into the groups.  The longer I am in the groups, the more comfortable the clients and I get with each other, and the more I learn about what therapeutic techniques are useful for what behaviors/temperments/etc.

Surrounded by Psychology
I work in an office full of people with masters degrees in psychology fields. Like any other field, psychology has jargon, and I am immersed in it. I am learning to use terms like "perseveration" and "self-stimulating behavior" and "therapeutic intervention".  I am learning the process of therapeutic assessment, the first step to planning therapeutic treatment goals and sessions.  Every specialty has a language, and I am getting exposure to the language of therapy.

Resource Fair
I went this week with our executive director to the Evanston Land Area Network Resource Fair to represent ITA at an information table. I got to see all sorts of social work related organizations, talk to their directors, and answer questions other people (mostly other social workers/counselors in the area) had about ITA. I saw in person a lot of the places where ITA therapists refer clients, and I have some hands on experience with how networking can be done in the social work world.  AND I am now #ITAfamous....this picture made it to the Facebook page that day :) Check it out (you have to scroll to the post from Oct 16):

The format was familiar, too- the fair was set up just like the activities fair at Cornell!

Catch-all
I'm getting a big variety of experience as my time spent in the office is spent being a catch-all for whatever needs to get done: this week I did everything from hanging a new bulletin board in our Art Room (for client art/ special use in sessions) to creating visuals for a children's song for one of our music therapists to use in a session, to cleaning up a paint spill, to working on a professional development calendar for the staff.  I'm getting to learn what kind of work I like/don't like and bulk up my list of skills (which now includes applying corkboard putty to a concrete wall.  It's more difficult than it sounds).

Independence
Though I was freaked out a little at first that no one was checking in on me on a daily basis, I am so glad I am independent in the office.  I have stuff to do, we all do, and if I need help/have questions, I have to figure out on my own where to find the answers. There's no answers in the back of the textbook, I just have to do it on my own.

Living by Northwestern
I went to a few lectures this week (one related to compassion practices and their influence on neuropsychology and the other on global engagement.....both incredible) and a theatre production put on by the NW Engineering department.  There is always something big happening here, and NW frequently brings in experts and top researchers, so even though I spend all day with a CAT (Creative Arts Therapy) organization, my time here can be spent doing really awesome academic things related or unrelated to psychology!


Look at all those blessings.
I talked to one of my academic advisors earlier this week and went back to Cornell this weekend for homecoming. I'm so glad I did both of those; talking to everyone there confirmed to me that this is a pretty amazing opportunity and I came back re-energized, ready to jump back into the world of ITA and Chicago!