Unless I am on vacation, my weekly routine doesn’t vary often. I see my clients and do my job and enjoy the company of family and friends in my off time. But this past week has been a lot different.
At the end of last week, we took off for Kansas City so that I could be a facilitator at an EMDR and Addictions workshop being presented by my EMDR Consultant, Hope Payson and her colleague Kate Becker. The weather was glorious, the people out there are extremely friendly and best of all I finally got to meet Hope in person! Hope has been working with me for a year now and it has all been over the phone. Our in-person meeting did not disappoint and she is still “Hope” to me, only better. If you are a clinician reading this blog and you ever get the chance to attend a Hope Payson workshop, I strongly encourage you to do so. Having had the privilege of Hope’s tutelage for the past year, the material at the workshop was very familiar to me, but being there, helping others to learn it reinforced just what a good education I have been getting. And Kate Becker is wonderful as well. Those women know how to hold a room, present material in a coherent, organized manner and they are entertaining as well. You know it’s a good workshop when I’m not itching to get out of my seat every 20 minutes.
Today, I had the honor of presenting information on EMDR to a class of graduate students at the IU School of Social Work. My friend and colleague, Dr. Kathy Lay, invited me to “just give a talk about it”. It was really fun. Those students were interested in the material, asked very thoughtful questions and I left that room feeling, once again, really proud to be a member of the social work profession knowing I will be calling them colleagues within months.
And just in case you were wondering, I actually did work this week and see my clients. And I have already started enjoying time with friends and family. Even when I mix it up a bit, I’m still a creature of habit.