I am alive good people

Hello everyone, I recognize that I have been a little bit off line for the past couple of months. Yes I am still alive. I have been working on trying to get my professional life on track. I would like to give you a update about where I am at in life. I am sure that many of you would like to know what I have been up to for the past couple of months. Let me try to bring you up to date. I am now a registered mental health counseling and a registered marriage and family inter with the state of Florida. To be quite honest, I am very excited about this. What this means is that I am still working with a supervisor who it discuss all my cases with. I am very excited again about this. I am now employed with a couple of organizations doing contact stuff. I am making these opportunities in the next couple of weeks. One of the organizations, I will be providing supportive employment services to its clients. I am also working with a different organization that provides counseling and other services to individuals involved with domestic violence and substance abuse issues.

I am also still at The Family Justice Center, providing pro bono counseling services to this population. I am in the process of building a private practice, so I can take on some private pay clients. This is going very slowly. You can say that I have been doing a lot for the past couple of months. I am very excited with the opportunity that has been given to me. I will try to publish my blog on a weekly basis. I am writing again.I am now working on a couple of projects on the side. I don't know what will become of these projects, but I am happy that I am doing them.I will keep you updated about all this.

what is it that we believe: a rehabilitation professional belief

I am happy to say that I am a graduate of the rehabilitation and mental health counseling program at the University of South Florida. I am a mental health counselor. I also believe that I am a rehabilitation counselor. Rehabilitation counseling as a discipline that focuses on working with individuals that have disabilities, mainly in issues dealing with employment and community involvement. Many of you know that I am actively involved in the disability rights movement in the state of Florida. One of the things that I like about rehabilitation counseling is the code of ethics that we ascribe to. The ethical aspects of this profession I take very seriously. One of the foundational ethical principles is that we as professionals must do what is in the best for the client at all times.

Recently I was at a meeting of professionals in the rehabilitation field, were I was giving a presentation. I had the opportunity to attend a legislative update that the executive director of the national rehabilitation Association was giving. She discussed briefly about the ending of sub minimum wage for individuals with disabilities. I wasn't really clear about what was the position of the national rehab Association on some minimum wage. For those of you that don't know, this is a technique utilized for rehabilitation desiring to get individuals with disabilities to get a job. Often sub minimum wage happens in segregated environments made up of individuals that just have disabilities. This is something as a disability rights advocate, that I have advocate for the elimination of these practices. This is not the best method to get individuals with disabilities employed. We knew that individuals with disabilities will have the greatest possibility of employment outcomes if they are supported on the job with individuals that do not have disabilities. Also, if there is a implementation of customized employment strategies, they can be supported in the community.

I was shocked with the response that I received from the executive director. The national rehab Association is in different about whether sub minimum wage should stop. Some people in the room, advocated for the belief that some minimum wage practices wore a good thing. This is a hypocrisy in the rehabilitation professional community. We as rehabilitation professionals have a ethical obligation to advocate for what is best for are client. We know from decades of research that segregate any employment does not work for individuals with disabilities, especially those that may have what society calls a more complex disability. Segregation does not work.

I am happy that I am a rehabilitation professional. I am disappointing at my professional organization, for not taking a more active stance on advocating for full employment for individuals with disabilities. If we cannot do this, and I believe that we as a profession have somehow lost are way. I am not asking you to agree with me, I'm just giving you something to think about

on why questions

hello everyone, yes I am still alive. Over the past couple of weeks it has been a very exciting time for me. I have graduated with my Masters degree. I am in the process of building a private practice with a group of my colleagues. I have job interviews next week for some contract work. Everything is going good. I am going to try to blog a lot more. I have been trying to work on getting my life organized.. I want to talk about why questions.

I was a meeting a couple weeks back, with a client. This client is someone that I have provided support for her family. This is a individual is that I have grown to respect. Thiswas a planning meeting of some type. Yes I am being a little bit vague, because I went to be able to protect my clients privacy. Some of the individuals in the meeting, I felt like they were trying to seek a explanation of why something may have happened that calls the client to become involved with are system. They were asking a why question.

Now I have to say that sometimes we can not explain somethings. What we tried to do is figure out ways to explain the unexplainable. Often times when we do this, we seek to control the client's activities. I have, coming to the realization that some things we cannot explain. As mental health professionals we do not have to answer these difficult questions. We often try to do this because we need a explanation. What we do is to facilitate a process, that allows the client to reach their full potential. This process also allows the client to recognize the abilities that they already have.

I believe that there is a different way of doing this. Instead of asking why did this happen, ask what can we do together so that this does not happen again. Often times we cannot explain why, all we can do is recognize that forgiveness is possible. As a mental health professionals, we do not judge or condemn. We give client's hope that change is possible.

living for today

The past is done with. What ever happened in the past is done. There may be things that we are not proud of. Things that we may have wished I never happen. This is done with. All we can do is seek forgiveness for what has happened, love the ones that are with us and live for today.

I've been thinking about this statement today. I have had a really interesting day with a client, my work with this client has made me write this.I know that I normally don't write this, but this has been on my mind

So what did you do today?

Good afternoon everyone, and happy Tuesday. I am right, now sitting in the FMHI library. I am the only student in the library right now. I have decided to take today off from my responsibilities at success 4 kids and families. I am doing this for a variety of reasons. One reason is I do not have any client's today. The other reason is, in my clinical supervisor said you need to take time off for spring break. I am working with some very good clients at this time, but I am also working with some clients that have a lot of complex issues. My supervisor didn't want me to lose my passion for the profession.

I have to be a little bit honest with you guys, this is a little bit difficult for me. Don't get me wrong, I definitely knew how to relax and take time for myself. If I'm really honest, I have trouble setting my work responsibilities aside. I consider myself very dedicated to the clients that I provide services to. What I must be able to do is to find some kind of balance between my professional and personal life. If I am not able to do this, my clients will not be receiving the best type of help that I can provide. I also have to figure out a way to have a lot of fun in the process.

So on this Tuesday, how am I having fun? I've spent the majority of today at a café that my friends have on the USF campus. Yes I did do some school work, but it is stuff that I like to do. I have also been working on some stuff for a federal grant review panel that I will be on in April. I have also been listening to some incredible music. I am having the opportunity to publish this blog, which I have not had the opportunity to do. Plus I was able to sleep late.

I recognize that this is a area that I will have to  work on throughout my professional life. I also am recommending that we need to find some balance in the professional and personal life. This is absolutely critical.

home and family

I have been reflecting recently about what it means to be home. Having a home is something very unique. I believe it is not only having a roof over your head, but it is about the people that live with you. For many of us we live with family. Family is also really important. Families love us, families also forgive us. They also set appropriate boundaries, to help us grow. I feel very fortunate that I grew up with a family like this.

Recently I have had the opportunity to shadow and to facilitate sessions with clients in the home. This is a very unique opportunity. This is also a privilege. I am being invited into one of the most intimate places a individual has, the home. For those of you that have provided treatment inside the home, you know exactly what I mean. Will being invited to see what really goes on in a family.

What I have a recognize is that there are many definitions of what home is. I believe that as long as we can keep the family intact, it does not really matter what home look like. I have had the great privilege of being in individual homes, and truly see what is happening. For that I am grateful. Again, I keep coming back to what we do is absolutely amazing, and a privilege.

what they don't teach you in graduate school

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is having a great day. This past week has been very interesting. It has been good, and difficult at the same time.I am realizing that I have the great privilege of being associated with some of the brightest minds in the mental health profession. I am doing a lot of stuff that I am not done before. I am seeing a lot of stuff that I have not seen before.What I am realizing it is I really loved its job.

·, Having said that, this is couple weeks has been very challenging. I have been and what it means to be a mental health counseling, professional. This is the stuff they do not teach you in classes. This is real life . Let me give you a couple of examples.

Always, always trust the process: having a very good session with a client of mine, and all of sudden she took the session and direction that I did not see happening. On the inside I was freaking out. On the outside, I was still in like I knew what I was doing. What I was doing was trusting the process. What I need to realize is that the client will go will he or she needs it to go. You just have to trust the process.

The therapeutic relationship the most important aspect of change: okay this is what I already knew. I think it is important to emphasize that I believe this is absolutely critical. The client must be able to fill safe so that they can deal with the issues that has brought them to see you. If the client doesn't feel safe, then they won't be able to engage in counseling. This is why the therapeutic relationship is very important. This takes time to develop. That's not going to happen at session 1, it will take a couple weeks. It could even take a couple of months.

When something is not working with the client, modify your style: I don't like labeling of client as a resistant individual. I have often said that resistance is just another way of saying that we don't know what the hell you're doing. Some times we have to think outside the box to help the client. .we have to be willing to do this. It is very important to do this. I am working with a client that has required me to abandon my typical style of counseling, and do something totally different.what I need to recognize is this is okay.