My Journey as a Marriage and Family Therapist To Be..

I decided while driving home from my traineeship office that I should blog every now and again about my journey from grad student to Marriage and Family Therapist trainee. Currently I am in grad school and recently started my traineeship. I am working with the senior population, which is a drastic change for me. I have always worked with children, but decided to expand my experiences and knowledge. Today was my first official day and I must say I was filled with excitement, anxiety, nervousness, pride and confidence. My day consisted of calling my clients, which were assigned to be about 2 weeks ago. When I was assigned my clients I was wondering if they were Black , but did not want to assume that they would be. But then I started to think after I found out that they were Black, that I always said I would prefer a Black therapist, so why wouldn't someone else think the same(just needed to put that out there lol). As I read their charts I realized that they preferred a Black therapist LOL. After contacting my clients and setting up my session appointments I had to go to disposition, which this week was a presentation from an organization that specializes in helping people with mental illnesses and their parents, families and caregivers with coping skills to deal with their hardships, communication skills building and maintaining their healthy relationships. Listening to their stories was somewhat emotional and I was glad to hear what the parents and families had to deal with compared to us professional who help them for a hour or so. After an hour of that I had to immediately go into group supervision. I must say that I felt a little intimidated at the beginning of group because I was the new one and did not know really what was expected of the group or I. But my supervisor(which I was lucky to have the pleasure of choosing)was so inviting and warm. After the introductions I felt at ease and welcomed. As I sat and listened to my group members discussing their clients, I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. The little girl who was once lost has finally found her way and is on the right path to becoming a THERAPIST. As I continue my journey; hopefully graduating after another 2 quarters of school, honing my therapist skills and building my experience and confidence level I will continue to use this blog as an outlet of sorts(while maintaining privacy, of course). I look forward to my future as a therapist in training and seeing what that has to offer me. I know that I am capable of handling anything with God, the support of my family and friends(and an occasional glass of wine LOL). I am so thankful that my mother instilled in me the importance of an education and encouraged me whenever I was down to continue to climb that ladder. Next is my doctorate program....You know a sista can't stop once she gets started...

Roni
Hope this encourages one or some to continue fighting the fight because in the end the reward is worth it all the time.