moocow in the city

one cow. many pastures.

open pasture

open pasture

Changing Leaves

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So we are well into the start of the Fall semester (and year two of three of the MSW Part-Time Traditional Program). Classes are going wonderful!

This past summer I took Motivational Interviewing, Psychopathology, Theories of Organizational Behavior & Leadership, Diversity & Oppression, and Professional Writing and Documentation for Social Workers.

This semester I am taking Interventions I, and History & Policy of Social Work. I am also three courses away from being able to apply for my CASAC credential, which is an incredible feeling!

I have also started my foundation year field placement in the Cheektowaga-Sloan School District. On Wednesdays I function as an MSW Intern doing School Social Work at the Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School. We do group interventions (using the Theraplay Model) for youth. I am running groups for students who need support in developing their social skills, for students with ADHD, and for students who are having problems modulating their emotions and dealing with appropriate ways to express anger. We also do observations, and provide other interventions/support to the school as necessary.

Thursdays I function as an MSW Intern in a clinical role at the Family Solutions Center at the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. Using Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy we provide team based clinical interventions and counseling for individuals, couples, families, parents and their children, and anyone else who is a resident of the school district that feels they can benefit from our services, free of charge.

It has been an absolutely incredible experience so far! If you have some time, check out some of the work that we’ve been doing to integrate Covey’s 7 Habits of Happy Children into our work!

And at the urging of my task supervisor…I will be working far more diligently to keep this website (and my portfolio) updated!

#FieldPlacement #MSW #UB #UBSSW

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We’ve been working hard to integrate Covey’s The 7 Habits of Happy Kids at the Theodore Ro

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We’ve been working hard to integrate Covey’s The 7 Habits of Happy Kids at the Theodore Roosevelt School in Cheektowaga-Sloan! #GradSchool #UB #SocialWork #SchoolOfSocialwork #MSWStudent #Training #RoadToMSW #SchoolSocialWork #Portfolio #FieldPlacement @ubssw

#socialwork #portfolio #schoolsocialwork #training #fieldplacement #mswstudent #schoolofsocialwork #Instagram #UB #gradschool #roadtomsw

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L’Shanah Tova U’metukah

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Wishing everyone a good and sweet New Year 5777.

This pas year has been so wonderful, and also so incredibly hard. It has been filled with challenges I’d never thought I’d have to deal with, and successes I would have never dreamed possible. It has been filled with incredible highs, and equally incredible lows, bringing it to be one of the most cosmically balanced years yet. What has been clear from this past year, and something I am taking with me moving forward, is the need for both balance, but also the incredible role that my friends play in my life, and doing all I can to be more open to sharing and giving of myself and my time to them, as they have been to me.

May the Days of Awe that follow this evening bring with them an opportunity for all of us to take time to self-reflect, and to take an accounting of our souls, before we stand before the divine on the Day of Judgement.

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Questions of Forgiveness, Answers of Discomfort

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So last weekend I was in the hospital; I had chest pains, shortness of breathe…if I tried to walk it hurt more, and eventually (and after a phone call to a friend who’s a nurse practitioner) I eventually went to the Emergency Room.

The nurses were incredible…the physician’s assistant was dumb as a doornail. The nurses weren’t terribly circumspect when it came to the PA either (“bless her heart, she tried using the blood pressure machine…”) and I wasn’t too thrilled either: she was determined that I was there because of acid reflux (I know what acid reflux is…this wasn’t acid reflux)…and so that’s the path we started on.

First they gave me a G.I. Cocktail (which contained, among other things, Phenobarbital)…so when they came in to check on me I was like “okay…so I still have chest pains, and now I really need to go to the bathroom. Then they were convinced it was anxiety, so they gave me Ativan, so when they came in to check on me I was like “okay…so I still have chest pains, and now I’m sleepy…” so then they were just like ‘who the fuck knows’ and they gave me a muscle relaxant, and I passed out…because Phenobarbital, Ativan, and a muscle relaxant will do that to you. During this process they also found out I was hyperglycemic (my blood sugar was at 200) so, suffice it to say, lifestyle changes abound (still figuring out when I can make it to the gym regularly, meal planning, etc.).

Marvin has been blocked from my cell phone since I last saw him and Mom in New York (though for some reason Apple allows blocked numbers to leave messages). For reasons only truly known to him, he called after I was in the hospital (apparently Mom told him I was admitted to the ER, something I’ll have to talk to her about when we speak is that my life is now no longer any of his concern) and he left a message to see if I needed him to come up and help me, and blah, blah, blah typical behavior of an abuser and I couldn’t say fuck off loud enough after I listened to it.

We are, of course, on the cusp of the High Holy Days…and at some point I do need to contact Marvin to be like “when I said we were done, I meant it: stop calling” and of course this brings up the very interesting question of forgiveness, and answers of discomfort. Do you forgive unforgivable behavior? If so do you do it because it liberates you? How do you express forgiveness, but still reinforce that you’re holding the person accountable for their actions?

Additionally, I am willing to at least meet him across a table (in a year) if he actively (bi-weekly) engages in mental health treatment, and also actively takes part in an evidence-based drug and alcohol addiction treatment program. His choice. If he chooses not to, then all the luck on his next life path, if he chooses too then we can re-assess what our relationship is to one another in a year’s time.

I’ve already made other plans for Thanksgiving and the related holidays; I’m also in the process of making other plans for Passover, and I’ll be beginning to ideate and what my future looks like (with a more or less dissolved family situation) here on LJ as I move forward.

There’s a lot of things to mourn, and a lot of things (freedoms) to look forward to.

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