Group Therapy Intern

Tomorrow I will have completed my second week at my new field placement. I am interning at a psychiatric day treatment/outpatient addiction recovery program. Although I am getting over it, it has been difficult to let go of the placement I lost at the hospital psych unit. But the more time I have spent at the day treatment center, the more I am accepting my new responsibilties and getting comfortable with the idea of providing group therapy. I also spoke with some alumni of the program who live in the Boston area, and was assured that I have a quality placement. That was a huge relief!

So...I am going to be faclitating therapy groups starting next week. My supervisor has me sitting in on any group that seems interesting to me. We have decided that I will be facilitating a women's group in both the psych program and the addiction recovery program, as well as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group for the psych program. Next week, I will be co-facilitating these groups, and then facilitating them on my own after that. Sometimes I feel confident that I can do this well. Sometimes I doubt my knowledge and skills. But I suppose it is normal to feel these things as a first year student. And I have an advantage over the other first year interns since I have already completed my first year of course work this summer, while they are just beginning classes this month.

I'm also realizing the quality of education I got this summer. Smith has a way of transforming students into a therapists, by shaping the way we see the world and interact with other people. They don't expect us to memorize lists and formulas and facts. They guide us on where to look for information, and expect us to take the initiative to learn whatever we believe we need. It's really hard to explain the way they prepared me for this experience. A professor once described to me her opinion of what happens during summer classes. She said that we are learning all of this new material, and have no one to practice it on but ourselves. And so we end up doing therapy on ourselves nonstop all summer long. I don't know....like I said, its hard to explain. But I feel strangely prepared, and for that I am glad!

The clients I'll be working with are amazing. Its funny how once I become involved with a new agency, I can't remember what it was like not to know my clients. In a sense, they become a part of me. They make me feel humble and remind me to lighten up. Sometimes I wish there weren't confidentiality laws (not really!) so I could tell you all about them! Witnessing their resiliency causes me to see humanity in a different way. I get to see the miracles that happen when people are given fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh chances. I get to see the way legislation affects individuals, in both detrimental and therapeutic ways. I get to watch people change their lives. I get to see the wheels turning in their minds. I get to be a part of the motion of the wheels. I feel honored, and like I said, humbled, that they allow me to be part of their experience. I have the urge to cry often. And I guess that's how I know I am where I belong!