Dear Emily:

I’ve had a very busy week and the week ahead of me is looking pretty full too. Oh well, that’s the way it goes sometimes and it’s better that way then not knowing what to do with myself.

My first week of practicum as a counselor went well. It was intense and there was a lot to stay on top of, both in class and at home, but I managed. During the week we have to constantly evaluate ourselves, our way of doing things, why we do what we do, what we did well, what we didn’t do so well, what our next step is going to be, and how we are using the method which we are studying. This time, as you know, it was an Integrative Approach that we were working with.

Our instructor periodically listens in on each session and our clients are also required to evaluate us after each session as well. At the end of the week we are given a sheet to evaluate our own overall performance for the week and then the instructor meets with us on an individual basis to give us some feedback on how we’ve done so far. So as you can see it’s quite the involved process.

An Integrative approach is definitely the kind of approach I will use in my practice. It works well with my beliefs and my way of working with people. I got some excellent comments from my instructor which certainly was nice to hear and helped me start my weekend on a positive note. She said the only critique she had really was that I didn’t give myself enough credit for the work I did. So there you go. I guess that’s kind of what I’m doing now. I’m taking a step in that direction and giving myself credit by telling you about it.

This week I’m the client. I don’t find its as demanding as juggling the learning while remaining fully present to the client and their process, but it still can be very draining as we take our turn to work through our own issues. As a client we are getting two counseling sessions a day for the next five days. So it makes it quite intense for the client as well. You know, right now I’m thinking I may have told you all this before with my last practicum so I’ll move on.

Hopefully I won’t spend this week at the end of a shovel heaving snow up those ever growing snow banks. My poor old bones were starting to protest saying “enough already”. I have never seen so much snow here. It just kept coming down all week long. We had 14 inches in about three days. I wish I had the camera to send you some pictures but Andree took it with her to Calgary so maybe when she gets back I can snap a few and send them your way.

Cooking. It’s not my cup of tea. In fact I don’t even like tea. I don’t like tea and I don’t like cooking. I really don’t mind the eating part, as my waist line shows, but cooking, ah man, it’s annoying. On Saturday evening I went out for supper with a friend and I really enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to bother with making anything, but I also enjoyed having someone else to talk with then Pumpkin. There’s only so much she listens too and the only time she’s really attentive to what I have to say is when she knows it’s close to feeding time and she depends on me to fill her bowl. She really lacks in the empathetic and conversation department.

Well, I’d better sign off here as it’s almost time for me to leave and I’m still sitting at the computer in my PJ boxer shorts. I think it’s still a tad bit cool to leave the house in that kind of attire, but, oh how I’m looking forward to the warmth of summer and the green grass as I peek out my window over those snow banks.

Writefully Yours
Annette