As I imagined, today was incredibly stressful. I got up on not enough hours of sleep, wrote a 4 pg paper then headed to class.
In class, which is group work, it was week 1 of learning about the different therapy's you can do out there with work. For the first part of the class we did cognitive behavioral therapy relaxation exercises. I can't believe I used to think breathing exercises were bull b/c I realized I needed to RELAX. The girl who facilitated today was amazing which talking to us soothingly and told us to relax our bodies muscle by muscle from head to toe (i realized how tense i was) then gave us a scenario to picture us on a magic carpet taking us five years into the future into a place hovering over our house and us peering inside from above. We were told to imagine what it would be like. I imagined being in a house near my grandparents farm with candles being lit and me just relaxing and reading a book with my boyfriend relaxing too. The atmosphere was warm, calm, and peaceful. It was a great exercise and gave me hope for what is to come.
The next part of the class was where we practiced client centered therapy where we wrote on a bag things that we perceived about ourselves then inside the bag was a piece of paper which we passed to around the circle where each person wrote what they thought of us, then when we were done we were asked to compare what we wrote about ourselves and what others wrote about us. Of course, I wrote I was quiet and so did everyone else. But then someone spoke up and said she said this was not a bad quality because I was not quick to speak. This showed strength and also exemplified that when I did speak my words were powerful which could be compared to the example of Jesus. That was truly an amazing thing to say---seriously.
That was the best therapy sessions I have gotten ever haha and it was done by other social work students like me. I think it just goes to show the power of caring and faith mixed together. AMAZING :)
Now I just need to hang in there till the end of the week.
Internship tomorrow which I need to go prepare for. I am meeting with my first two kids individually tomorrow. Also, I have to have my scrapbooking club objectives all together. Sooo much to do and sometimes I just don't want to talk to anyone or see anyone but I have to get through it all because it will just make me stronger in the end.
Hard to believe I am gonna be 24 in four days, I am so blessed that I will be spending it with my real family.
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Wow, those were some very powerful lessons that you learned! I use to hate doing those relaxation exercises when I was a student, I guess because they made me feel so uncomfortable, but now I could not live with out them. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, how they reframed you being quiet as you being someone who listened and when you did speak, your words were more powerful. That is so true and so empowering. What a great lesson.
ReplyDeleteHope your work with the kids goes well, I'm sure it will.
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thanks Cheryl. Yes, I too used to hate relaxation exercises-when I went to counseling as a teenager I thought how could something like that possibly help me. Now that I am older, I can see it's true value in helping those who are anxious and stressed. I think I will look more into relaxation techniques to help myself and others because of the lasting effect the exercise had on me. I hope you are well! God bless :).
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