dreamer finds a boy (oh wait, I'm supposed to call him a "man")

You may have been wondering what happeneded to the dreamer over the past couple weeks.  Where have her deeply insightful and thought provoking posts gone?  Well, there is a simple answer, as happens to many of us, the dreamer has found herself a boyfriend who from now on will be referred to simply at "the intrepid one".  He got that name when we were 13 and it's stuck.  So yes, instead of lying on my couch blogging, I've actually been getting out of my house and seeing movies, and eating ice cream.  Although yesterday, we sat on the couch together and watched 8 or so episodes of Friends.  

Things seem to be going well these days.  I have yet another set of antibiotics for the never ending sinus infectiong, but I'm trying to be really diligant about taking care of myself so that maybe this time it'll finally go away!  

Work is going well.  My case load still really isn't picking up that much, but it's summer, and apparently that's what happens.  I've been doing quite a few intake interviews though, which is nice, I LOVE learning people's stories.  

Church is good as well.  And I'm seeing my spiritual director again on Tuesday.  

Sophie Cat is doing well.  She really seems to like the intrepid one, which is good, because it's vital that the two of them get along.  Yesterday she kept a very close eye on him...it was kind of creepy actually.  I think she senses something is up because she doesn't stare at bestest buds boyfriend the same way.  Currently she's sticking her paw in her water dish and licking the water off her paw... she doesn't like to drink the normal way.  

So hopefully more social work posts shall follow soon.  I'm off to get my morning coffee before I go into major caffienne withdrawl.  

What brings you here today?

One of the questions I like to ask when I'm doing an intake, an assessment, or now, a first counseling session, is "what brings you here today, what was different about today that made you decide to come in".  What I'm trying to
get at is the motivation for change, was it a sudden revelation or was it a long time coming?  Sure, you may have been thinking about seeing a counselor
for a long time, but what changed that you picked up the phone today, because something did.

What I've discovered, is that people seem to have a really hard time answering that question.  When I was doing detox intakes it was often "well, I'm drinking too much" or "my worker made me".  Well, those are decent reason, but what prompted you to walk in our door, what was that mental process, it's not an easy thing to do after all.  Perhaps you said to yourself, "enough is enough, I'm ready for this" or something similar.

Now, I'm getting transfer clients to build my caseload.  Basically, not everyone in the program is required to attend counseling, but they are able to access it when they need it.  Often they spend more time working with the job people and the employment support people.  So, I'm getting clients who are partway through the program but are looking for counseling now.  This is good.  BUT they seem to also have a very hard time.  What brings you here today.  The answer I usually get, is "life issues".  Well yes, but you've been thinking about this particular thing for a while, what was the thing that pushed you to make that call?

Thinking from the clients perspective though, it's a hard question.  What was that thing that made you do it.  I know when I first chose to get counseling, I found it really hard.  Making that call was agonizing.  I purposely planned it so that I would be leaving a voicemail rather then having to talk to a live person.  I stood there in the kitchen with the cordless phone in my hand deciding whether to dial.  But, I had a good reason for why that day out of other days, it came the day after I felt I had been intensely betrayed by two people I trusted a great deal.  That was what pushed me over the edge.

Change is a hard process and I really believe that it's important to be aware of our motivations for change.  Why are we doing what we do.  It's a lot easier to stick to your plan if you understand the reason things came about in the first place.  Further, it helps us understand ourselves better when we're aware of our motivations and the reasons we do things, even if it's things we learn in retrospect.

antibiotics and yuck

I don't like antibiotics.  I think they're a wonderful invention, I totally agree that their lifesaving.  I also think they're over prescribed, and generally, they don't make me the world's healthiest person (I tend to get stomach side effects of varying forms and severity).  That all said, I've now been on antibiotics for 17 days straight, and I'M STILL NOT BETTER!  

You've probably noticed that I've got down on my blogging, and it's because I've just been too sick.  What I initially thought was going to be strep throat again turned out to be a sinus infection...or shall I say, assumed sinus infection, because the doctors haven't x-rayed my head to look for it, just treated me based on my symptoms.  Which is fine and dandy considering I've had them before.  BUT, I should be better.  I'm on my second round of antibiotics, and I really don't feel much better.  Yes, the fever's gone, but seriously, my ears hurt SO much.  After some research, I've discovered that it's the tubes in my ears, reacting to the pressure in my sinuses.  Basically, it's like I'm on an airplane which is taking off and taking off and taking off with no escape.  I catch myself sitting at my desk and pulling at my ears like a little kid with an earache.  Bah. Humbug. 

Not all is bad though.  My new job is going well.  I'm still kind of bored, but more stuff will come.  I'm co-facilitating two groups/classes next week, and I did my first solo intake on Friday.  I have supervision Monday (yes, that's right, we actually meet with our supervisor on a regular basis, as a requirement).  And, I get to take a workshop in June which work is paying for!!  It's going to be SO much easier to get my continuing ed hours when work actually lets me take work time for it!  Besides all that, my coworkers like Sushi, which just makes the whole world better for me!  

EDIT:  So, I tried the neti pot.  Interesting, interesting, interesting.  I'm not sure I did it for long enough on each side, but I'm going to try again tomorrow.  Anything to get rid of the ear aches, and I'm all about the more natural and tried and true ways (as in, neti pots were used for hundreds of years before the invention of antibiotics).