Debriefing is Necessary

Yesterday was the first day of my elementary school social work internship in an urban atmosphere. Although the anticipation of the first day caused me some anxiety, once I got there, the day went fairly smoothly. I got assigned three clients which i will initially observe and then meet with individually to counsel. I also was involved in two groups yesterday: one that dealt with working with kids on basic social skills like taking turns and not interrupting others and another group that worked with kids who have an autism spectrum DSM diagnosis. Eventually I will be doing my own groups, including facilitating a group that will be a photography/scrapbooking therapeutic group which is very exciting considering I doing both! My supervisor is awesome as well, very sweet and understanding and very willing to get me involved with kids and learning social work tools and experience that is a key to my learning process. She wants me to create a grief therapy guide for counseling children individually who have gone through the loss of a loved one that will cover 8-10 sessions. This is relevant to me because of my own personal losses and because I feel there is a greater need for social workers to be trained and aware of interventions to help children who are dealing with the issue of loss in their lives.

I feel things in my life have picked up speed drastically in the past week. I realize if I don't write things down in my planner, I forget them. I am already struggling with keeping up with readings from courses again so hopefully I find a way to fit them all in and simply not forget about them because I am too tired. I am sure I will get a better handle of things in a few weeks once I get more used to being at my present internship. It just takes time.

I am also very thankful to have my boyfriend. As I go through this program, I realize the importance of having someone you can debrief with at the end of the day (My supervisor says she plans to discuss how things went after each day I am at my placement so we can reflect on the day which is also great). I can talk to him about my apprehensions, my high and low points of my day, and just get the feedback that I am doing something great and receive the awareness that I am being supported through my social work education journey. I am happy to not that I am not alone and have someone in my life who will advocate for me to pursue the job I want once I am given the opportunity, even if it may mean leaving the Rochester area.

I truly see God's hand in this journey everyday and I am thankful at the end of the day for each opportunity to help others, including when a little girl who was in a group yesterday said she was happy because I was a new friend who wanted to help her be happy. :)