this lady works.

while at laura and zack's wedding rehearsal, a few people revealed they read this thing but they had confusion because it's pretty unclear what i do for work. and in thinking about it, i guess i've never told you so i'll take the time to do so. not because i think you really care, but because my grandparents called me the other day trying to tell me to change careers. the light went on in my head: i don't think my family knows what i do and how much i like my job; they just hear about the crazy stories and tears, which probably sounds awful. with that said, i certainly don't want to be dooced, so bear with me in my explanation.

i am a registered marriage and family therapist intern. i am trying to gain three thousand hours of experience in order to take a really hard licensing exam. once i take (and pass!) that exam, i will lose the intern ending and just be a marriage and family therapist... i'm in the midst of getting those hours.

so far i've earned six hundred hours working with late age adults who, for the most part, had dementia of some sort. i love love love late age adults. i miss them terribly and hope to work with them again in the future.

now i work for an agency that i will not link to here. i work in a community based system of care called wraparound, specifically with foster care and probation youth. it's fun and hard, especially when i have to give the neutral face. it makes me cry, A LOT. every day is different; no client is ever the same.

wraparound, huh? ya. it's hard enough to explain so i'll just tell you that it's the highest level of care one can receive, assuming they are still part of our community (as in, not in a locked facility or hospital). i don't so much sit in a room with kids doing fifty minute therapy sessions. it's a lot of case management and unofficial therapy for all team members. it's behavioral; trying to figure out antecedents as well as the function of a behavior. it's sustainable; we try to utilize as many natural supports as possible (the people who aren't paid to be present in the kid's life). it's the most challenging thing i have ever done, hands down. one minute i'll be doing a treatment plan and the next i'll be problem solving for a kid with somatoform disorder, or even in the emergency department for hours on end. i'm often leading team meetings or making cold calls to find my kids' bio-family members. my job is insane; it's like finals week ALL THE TIME. you always can be giving more (or, in the case of finals, studying more). it's a major test in boundaries, that's for sure.

i can't tell you the hours i've spent crying while simultaneously reading VOLUMES of reports from these kids' child welfare workers. they have been abused and rejected. they have the worst odds of succeeding. they have been born to fail.

and if there's anything i've learned in the last five months, it's that [these] children are the most resilient beings on earth; they are so loyal. they are fighting like hell to stay above water and do what it takes to make it in this world. and these days, they are the reason i'm getting out of bed. i am privileged and i have something to offer; even if it's just a little empathy and even less hope. this really is the Kingdom of God at hand.