How Can?

How can someone who is a therapist/counsellor still explore the possibility of being a performer? Okay okay, and not like an opera singer or anything that wouldn't involve a ton of ethical problems... but something more like a standup comedian?

Discuss. I need your pointers.

I think I want to actually give it a try, but I don't want it to bite me on the ass.

The Clinical Hour Seems To Be Getting Shorter

That was the joke I made today at my own therapist's office when I arrived with only ten minutes left in our session. There is a mild snowstorm where I live that seems to have incapacitated most of the transit. Nevertheless, I arrived with homemade cookies to share. I have always wanted to be able to sit down with my therapist and just "chat" with him about whatnot. Of course, it didn't happen, but he seemed to apprecite the cookies.



Cramming your last therapy session before the two week holiday break into ten minutes is a trifle disappointing, so say the least. Perhaps a new theoretical school will emerge? "Speed Ego," "Rapid Transference," and "Quickbitch Session" are all terms that come to mind.



I've been told by many practising therapists/psychologists/psychiatrists/analysists that they learned more from their own therapy than they did from their university education or from any professional school they attended. Hmm... being at the beginning of my graduate career and on strike at that, I can only guess if this will hold true for me as well. I suspect that it will. It is the same kind of long-term, experiential learning that one gets in an acrobatics class. Learning by emotional doing. We can talk about a cartwheel all day, but you can't actually DO one until, well, you DO one.

I guess it is the very basics of genuinely needing to have an idea of what this process is like for the client/patient. The whole process is about coming to an empathic understanding of what their experience is like for them. How can you do that without having an idea of what it is like to be in therapy for yourself? It truly amazing me when I meet people in this field who think that therapy is "not for them." What does that say to the client?

Okay, no more coherent thought today. Back to blurk.

It's Today And Still No End In Sight

I admit that I've not been writing so much because I've been under the assumption that all of my posts must be high calibre writing to impress. But a good friend of mine kindly got some sense into me and I've dropped that ridiculous notion. Write because you enjoy writing. Blog because you want your friends to know what you're up to. Ignore jerks who criticize you and don't have the deceny to even tell you who they are.

Well done and well spoken. I hereby cast of the shackles of my oppressor!

Here's my news.

There is no end in sight for this strike. If things are not resolved by tomorrow, then we will not be going back to class until at least the new year. So more forced vacation. But it's okay. I'm relaxing in to it. I've also heard back from C*** that they are going to make good on my strike pay... so huzzah! I need to plug it into the debt hole, of course, but huzzah nonetheless.

I'm trying to work a bit more during the strike at the old org. Sigh... it's okay because I'm not full time here and have a very relaxed attitude towards everything. But I still don't LOVE it. I guess I need more absence to make my heart grow fonder. But I could use the money, so we'll see what happens. Oh, and for those of you who know me well, I'll be on that TV show I used to be on a lot this Monday from about 3:30 - 6:30 again. Talking about holiday stress with the youngin's! That's something I am looking forward too. Oh, and I'm picking up a new rolling pin from a freecycler right afterwards. What a time to be alive!

I guess I don't have a ton to do, but I still feel busy. I finally have a research project doing an environmental scan for a networks centre of excellence, and I'm prepping a manuscript for publication. Also super exciting. Since it's mostly my work. If I got published at this early stage of my career I would just be over the moon. I'm not holding my breath, but I am hopeful.

Other than that, I suppose I should actually do my assignments that would be due if the strike gets called off. And just get ready for holiday insanity. My sweetheart and I are going to barricade ourselves in with a bunch of MST3Ks and food and enjoy.

Despite not having anything to do, I'm really looking forward to having someone to do all that nothing with. I've been very lonely since school started, and moreso since the strike came on. And yet, I find myself so busy all the time. So here's to a season of creature comforts and delightful creatures to enjoy them with.

Psyche.

Step Right Up, Win A C*** Doll!

It's been a while, again and obviously. This is largely due to the large-scale disruption at my university. Classes have all but stopped, and there is much, MUCH confusion. For my part, it has to do with the union and the ongoing question of my membership.

When we were instructed to vote on the strike mandate, I dutifully went to the polling booth. I was not on the list, but assured by a union rep that my grad student ID was valid, given a ballot, and cast my vote. Weeks later, at a general membership meeting, I was still not on the voting list. A union rep examined my ID and my paystub and assured me that I was a union member. Again I was allowed into a meeting and voted.

I picketed. Not only that, but I stepped up as the picket captain for my department (yeah, the only volunteer and I'd only been there for two months at the time). I did strike duties for 3+ weeks. My stike pay never came... I called to inquire...

Apparently, I'm not a member.

Now, understand, when there was originally the problem with my name not being on the list, the union told me that the only way they know if I'm a member or not is if the administration tells them so. I talk to the admin... oh, yeah, you're a member.

I call payroll yesterday, I'm not a member.

I call the union today, I am not a member.

I get an email from the union today, I am not a member.

Member or not... I'm inconvienienced greatly... very frustrated... and upset that I may have been walking around with a picket sign and getting up for a 7am shift or earlier.

Welcome to grad school, Psyche.

Sigh... I will accept your pity now. Especially if it comes in the form of taking me out for a coffee etc...

Psyche.