Where did you get your degree?
I got my first degree at Cambridge College.
Why did you select your highest degree over other similar degrees?
I always liked helping people though I was not yet certain of the path I wanted to take. However, after working at Tri-County, I decided to work at a more clinical setting
What was the most helpful part of the program?
There were realistic and practical. They prepared us for the field by giving use different real-life scenarios of what to expect. Everything was, therefore not just theoretical as it happens in a conventional classroom setting.
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What was the most useful thing you learned?
I learned that you could not expect to change right away. Patience is key, and you cannot fix all of them because everyone is different. The trick is first to get them to show up so you can see a change, and appreciate that you can solve some but not all their problems.
Apart from the detailed and psychotherapy skills and knowledge I acquired, the soft skills I learned also prove to be invaluable. The two most important soft skills I learned are communication skills and critical thinking. Therapy involves communication with the patients and trying to get them to reveal their innermost secrets and what is disturbing them. They cannot, however, volunteer these pieces of information. The communication skills I learned have become important in making the patients feel safe and guide them to put out their feelings and issues. Critical thinking is also helpful in this process because it has ensured that I not only detect what is under the surface but also respectfully question my patients.
Where did you get your training?
I have received my training from diverse centers and organizations. They are:
NCYF as a Residential counselor.
Instruction aide for behavior children at Tri-county
Carlson center as a Therapeutic mentor
Way Finders as a housing case manager
Providence hospital as an intern, and
CHD as a Therapist
Looking back, would you do anything differently?
No, I am satisfied with all the different training and experiences I have received so far. As you can see, there is diversity in these training and experiences, and these have served me well. My therapy patients are from different walks of life. The diverse training and experience, therefore, ensures that I get to understand and appreciate the conditions and problems of different patents, hence providing them with the best-personalized care.
Previous Work Experience
How many years have you been working in the field?
I have been working in human services for just over 12 years.
What kind of positions have you held?
In my 12 year career in human services, I have held many positions, including:
NCYF- Residential counselor
Instruction aide for behavior children Tri-county
Carlson center- therapeutic mentor
The Housing Case Manager at Ways Finders
Providence hospital as an intern, and
a CHD Therapist
What was your first job in the field?
My first job was as an NCYF residential counselor for youth and families. It is the job that gave me an epiphany that my career was more than just a job due to the impact I could have on humanity. One case that especially challenged me was where I worked with a family where the mother’s diabetes had gotten worse because the son had depression. He had tried to commit suicide a couple of times. I had many therapy sessions with the son, and after six months, his condition had improved dramatically. I knew that I had helped the depressed and suicidal boy, and indirectly improved his mother’s health. This is just one example of the life-changing impact that gives me the drive and motivation in my line of duty.
Current Work
What do you like best/least?
Best- I like the flexibility in my work as I can meet clients where and when they are most comfortable. Consequently, no one micromanages me, and the support staff is instead very supportive, and they make sure you don’t fail. I also love that my clients show up. We have a therapeutic bond with our clients, and they look forward to seeing in the next therapy session. This is not to say that there are no tough times with the clients, especially in the early sessions, but this is unsurprising.
Least - Some of my co-workers are not easy to deal with. At times, they push me to the limit due to their rigidity or complexity, but I always try to remain calm, walk off, and talk to them later when I am calm. The amount of paperwork in my office is substantial, with some of it being repetitive. I am frustrated as I have made numerous proposals that the data entry and information storage should be digitized. I hope it will be implemented soon as we had an office fire two months ago where some patient records got destroyed. I imagine that if the information and data were digitized, the data and information loss would have been avoided.
Describe a typical day from start to end .
If I were to use three words to describe my typical workday, they would be “GO GO GO!!” In my line of work, you have to be proactive and productive. After getting my tea, I get my co-workers check my voice mail, text messages, and emails. My 1 st client is at 9:15 am. However, it is not always a certainty that a client will show up on time. If a client does not show up or is late, I use this free time to catch up on paperwork and make collateral calls, among other daily routine chores.
On a busy day, I see 10 to 12 clients, whereas, on slow days, only two clients show up. I always squeeze in time to read a book, be it on therapy, fiction, or motivation. I am a diverse reader, as I believe diverse information is healthy for the mind and my line of work. On Fridays, I do home therapy, where sessions last for 45 minutes. I, however, try to minimize doing work at home, and I am mostly at the office from 9 am to 6 pm.
A key task for most of my workday is documenting, especially when I have one-on-one sessions with my clients. It would be unwise of me to rely on my mind’s memory to remember all the data and information I painstakingly and patiently extract from clients. I have therefore developed a good acumen for documenting information which I can then later use to develop and execute personalized therapy sessions for my clients.
What excites you about the population with who you work?
There is never a boring day at work. As mentioned earlier, the population I work with is diverse with regards to age, social class, religion, lifestyle, race, and gender, among other differences. It is, therefore, inevitable that the problems I have to deal with are diverse. They range from sad, happy, hilarious, surprising, shocking, and even insightful revelations and issues. I am therefore always excited to interact with my clients, know their issues, and develop personalized ways of dealing with them. I have heard many stories that would surprise or even shock a newbie therapist or a common citizen that no longer faze me. I, therefore, feel privileged to be in this line of work. Most importantly, I have developed empathy, hence always try to put myself in the shoes of my clients.
