Since last time I journaled, practicum has been advancing very well. I have obtained a total of 140 hours by the end of this week. I am feeling like I am slightly behind in my hours, only because I took reading week off last week. I was conflicted between taking a week off and going home to visit my family or staying in town and continuing practicum to get some more hours. I ended up deciding to take the week off because I was starting to feel very overwhelmed by the weight of the semester and decided to take the week off as a form of self-care for myself. At practicum, I have been continuing to experience lots of new and exciting things. Some of the major highlights recently have been leading a girls group at Nesdeyoh Elementary and one …show more content…
Debriefing is something we have always been taught about in school, from day one. Before experiencing practicum hands-on, I almost dismissed the importance of it. Now that I am experiencing real interactions with clients and hearing about their struggles, trauma and crimes they have committed, I get it. I am lucky enough to be doing practicum in a setting that really focuses on the importance of debriefing. My direct supervisor is always ready to debrief with me after any interaction with a client or any major event that happens during the day. Above and beyond that, I have noticed how much debriefing helps others. My one colleague has had some experiences in the past couple of weeks that have been less than pleasant and her strategy to cope with these experiences has been to get together in the back room (safe space) and discuss the situation with everyone in the office. Its amazing to watch and see the impact simply talking about it can have one someone, instead of carrying that with you when you leave, debriefing allows you to talk about it in professional setting and hopefully leave it at work after