themegababe

Yeah Arielle, I guess we just have good taste!  Although I think I'm going to dress my meez up or the beach, where I will be tomorrow!  And I have to agree with you on the packing thing. I am way worse at unpacking. haha

Glad you are finding things to get rid of Barb, simplifying is always nice!

themegababe

  When I was a teen, there was a band called A Teens, they did covers on ABBA songs. I loved them!  I am excited to see what they did with Mamma Mia!

themegababe

Penny, I will definitely be praying for you and your family as well.  Engagement is supposed to be a wonderful and happy time, I pray that you will all be comforted.

themegababe

  So Arielle, have a wonderful time in NYC!  i am so jealous!  

And Barb, have a safe move. You will be missed over here!

themegababe

Ooh Mel I forgot when your wedding was, for a moment.  It's getting so close!  Are you excited??

themegababe

Hello all, sorry I havne't been around much!  I've been working a lot and just got accepted into grad school. So with working full time and going to grad school full time, i don't know how much I will be around in the future.

anyways, glad you had fun in NYC!  I want to go visit there again!

themegababe

Oh!  All of this New York talk makes me want to visit!  I went once, but I was 13, so I just did what my parents wanted to. We had a great time, but I would love to go as an adult. Also, theres a great place where you can get tickets to shows, the day of, for half price.  It's a little different, because you might not get to see your favorite show, but it's great.

Sorry I've been absent. I was finishing up my grad school application and doing interviews and such. So I don't know how present I will be in the next while either, because I start school in a week, and am still working full time!   But I will do my best to visit yall

themegababe

haha that's funny about football. I thought they didn't do that in college, but it looks like they do! haha  I start my new program on Tuesday.  It will be interested going to school where I am mostly a commuter, versus my undergrad when i was on campus.  I wonder if I will still do school spirit stuff like going to games and rallies, etc.

themegababe

I like your avatar too, Arielle!  And I go back to school today too.  grad school!  We will see how it feels, getting back into the swing of things (working 38 hours a week, school full time, and being a wife!)  Hope school continues to go well for you mel!

themegababe

Yay!  You are back, Barb!  Welcome back!

and your dress sounds beautiful Mel, I hope it fits!  How's everything else for the wedding coming along?

I had my first day of classes Tuesday. They went well.  One is going to be easy, and the other more work. But I feel like I really need to focus and study now, because this is my life (unlike undergrad, where some was just classes I had to take). This is the beginning of my counseling career. And next year, I start interning!  Crazy!

themegababe

Marriage and Family Therapist, for now. But I am realizing just how many opportunities are out there. I can do my internship in a local hospital, that would be cool.  Or I have thought about working with troubled teens, especially girls struggling with eating disorders.  So I'm not sure exactly what type, but the Master's Degree is for Counseling, with an emphasis on the MFT (Marriage and Family Therapy) licensure.

themegababe

Mel - I think I was all wedding on here for a month or so before the wedding. And I'm loving hearing all about yours!

Gypsy - Welcome back, glad you are feeling better. It's so great seeing you around so much more!  Hope your trip home was successful.

Bala - Well I wasn't offended at all by your question.  I actually thought that might be the case at first too, just listen and tell people what to do. But it is actually so much more than that.  You have to be a close listener and be able to read between lines, basically our professor described it as holding up a filter all day, to see what people are actually saying. And then we have to be careful not to divulge too much information as well, because we need to have proper relationships with our clients.  The biggest problem facing therapists is emotional burnout, I mean we have to listen to all sorts of emotions from people, all day long. And it's not like a friendship where you can talk back and forth and get out your feelings too, nope, you have to hold yours in. And the schooling is about learning to cope with that and how to handle different clients. Also how to diangose harder disorders. etc.  it's 2 years for a masters degree, and then 3000 hours interning, where you are being supervised the whole time. Mostly, the time is so you really know what you are doing. I mean, people's minds are in our hands, we don't want to harm them. Sorry, that was a long answer.

about college, I loved my undergrad, but I never did the greek thing, I'm kinda sad about that, but the time passed and it never happened.  I was on cheer though, like you Gypsy, and LOVED it. Football wasn't huge at our school, but we definitely had fans come and it was fun to see everyone. There were only 2500 people at my school, so you kinda knew everyone. Very weird, but I loved it. We also knew our professors really well. I loved that aspect. They were always available to meet with you or answer any questions. Now, I need to get some more reading done. ttyl

themegababe

  I actually haven't started my interning yet, so I haven't had any clients to make mistakes with. But I am sure that I will (no one is perfect!).  One of the biggest problems right now is under diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, especially in soldiers (who have returned home from fighting overseas, at least for US soldiers). So, many therapists has made that mistake.  And I'm not sure how many times you can re-take the test. but I know that once you start interning (and I believe you have to take a test to be able to do that) you have only 6 years to finish interning. So you can't just be lazy about it and see a client here and there.  Sorry I don't have all of the answers!

Cshapiro, I know you are a doc. Do you work in a hospital or PP?  And do you know if there are actually therapists in hospitals, like they show Meredith going to in Grey's, meaning for the doctors, not to test the patients.  I know there are therapists for patients, especially when there are kids with huge disorders, or major trauma patients. That would be a very interesting career choice, working with doctors, that is.

themegababe

  Well, since I have only had 2 days of classes so far, I haven't had to diagnose anything. But I will let you know once we start getting fake cases and having to diagnose.

themegababe

Thanks!  It's great to hear that some surgeons value therapists.  One of my professors did an intern rotation at a hospital, and that gave me the idea (I always thought I would go into a private practice before). She said some people just think therapists don't do much, but she had a doctor stop some of his other doctors (not sure what the heirarchy was in the situation) and he told them to listen to what she had to say, because the initial diagnosis was so important.  That doctors really do need to rely on therapists. I like the well rounded approach that your hospital uses, I didn't realize there were therapists on each case.  And since I just started my family therapy class, I can definitely relate to what you said about families needing therapy too.  This is definitely something I am going to look into. I imagine it will be a lot more draining than just a private practice (being surrounded by pain and loss daily), but it would be great to make an impact for awhile.  And thanks for the encouragement!

Shinny, very exciting about the nieces and nephews.  I feel like I'm surrounded by babies right now, but I think it's just that stage of life. Many of my friends are getting married, so it's just natural that babies come next (in some cases before, but no big deal)...haha

Bala, I don't really have any accounting questions.  But I do have a friend who is an accountant in the states and he just got a job in Germany, doing accounting for the military (I think at a US base there). So that's crazy. haha  What type of accounting do you do?

themegababe

Thanks for the insight Gypsy. What is your degree in?  That sounds a lot like what I want to do.  I was talking to a prof last night and she said that the non-psychs had the most time with patients. I can't remember what she called them, but they were the people with the patients all day, helping them. While the therapist only sees them for a short time each day.

And yes, you do care a lot about your clients, but it's not a mutual / reciprocal friendship.  And you have to be careful not to care too much, or it could damage you, the therapist. Burnout is one of our biggest dangers! haha

themegababe

Yeah, we are learning a lot about that emotional toll right now. And how it can affect your marriage because you tend to just shut off when you get home, and that's not fair for your spouse.  I can imagine how hard it would be working in a hospital.  But at the same time, you have to remember the good things you do (like how many lives you have saved).  I know that some days my patients will hate me (for having to be real and break down some tough walls that they are hiding behind) and other days love me (for helping them get through those hard times and making changes on their own), and that's just in a PP setting.  I can't imagine the ups and downs of a hospital setting. But it makes me happy to know that you have kicked people out for being uncaring with children. It would break my heart to know that children are with detached and cold doctors. I can't imagine the fear that would cause.  I know you can't change them all, but we can each do our own part. I think I'm rambling now, so I am going to go back to my reading about family therapy!

themegababe

  Yeah it would be nice to have free healthcare!  I hate medical bills! haha  I am glad that you have such a good doctor, Tina.  I love when people really care about you and try to do their best to help you. I once had a doctor who barely gave me the time of day, I went in for an "exam" and then she said this was just an info session and i had to reschedule to actually get a physical (which wouldn't have been so bad if i hadn't waited 4 months already, and thought i was getting a physical). But the worst is when doctor's don't believe me. Like I waited until I was married til... you know... haha but she would not believe me and kept trying to make me take tests and get shots (they have these new dumb anti-std shots over here). Yeah. I think the worst thing is when people won't listen to you. I mean, a lot of patients like,  but at least try to believe them! haha

themegababe

  haha  Arielle, My Meez is doing the Hammer dance in the kitchen. Because I was excited for the weekend. But it's not showing the whole dance, just a weird part of it. I couldn't find a good shot of studying either, so hammer dance it was! haha

themegababe

Mmm those cookies look delish!  I made some spiral sugar cookies last 4th of july, they were a huge hit!  And you can change the sugar color to make it for any holiday! haha  I can't find the picture, but it looks the same as your picture, except color in the middle (not brown). You basically roll out sugar cooke dough, sprinkle with lots of colored sprinkles, and then roll up and cut.  I did red and blue (layers) for the 4th of july.  Lots of fun, really cute, and super easy!

And Shannon, we are here for you to vent to. That's tough leaving your job, but with your husband gone, you need a strong support system, especially in the work office.  Hopefully you can find something else (or just spend the time at home with your son!)