so many musings, so little time

So this is my very first blog. I know that blogging has been a part of the e-world for quite some time, but it has always taken me a bit longer to really be sold on something. Note, I'm not quite sold yet, but I'm a try-er...a do-er, if you will... just ask my family.

Now that I've established my role as a Do-er, I'll now speak on my ever-developing role as a therapist. In September 2006, I embarked on a three year journey into therapist-hood by enrolling as a full-time student in Eastern University's Masters in Counseling program. It's now 2008, so my graduation is rapidly approaching. May 2009 is right around the corner. Literally. It kind of freaks me out...but is thoroughly exciting at the same time. One thing I've learned in these two and a half years is that I can have two feelings at the same time!! Simultaneously!! There's my first musing for you.

Being two and a half years in, and approaching the end of my training experience, I've had a lot of thoughts, musings, epiphanies, and the lot about being a therapist. First off, it's a weird profession. Therapists are trained to become experts in how individuals live their lives. We exist to help people know themselves better. Instead of being their magic mirror, we're their reality mirror. I witness something quite profound in my quiet and eerily intimate counseling room. My clients are seeing their reflections... and those reflections are becoming clearer and clearer with each session. This is not always a comfortable experience. Who am I kidding, it's really painful. And there I am...with them in their clarity and their pain. It's a wonderfully awful experience for me.

That is my world right now in a nutshell, as I'm in the internship phase of my program. I'm meeting with 8 clients per week. And actually looking forward to it. I kind of wish I would have started this blog two years ago. You, the reader, would have read about my unbridled excitement upon entering the academic world, my debilitating distress as I moved through writing papers (some of which were about myself....YIKES!), and my oft felt complete disillusionment with the profession. Not to worry, reader. It's all still there...somewhere. But I'm happy to annouce that I am in the "awe" phase of my training. What a great place to be.