Oscillation between two mind sets

@Jynx, I believe CASA has after hours service, and I’ve tried 1800 respect, but not for a while. I’ll see how I go. I think eating something would be a good idea right now, today was the first day back at uni and I have to go tomorrow too.

I’ve also sent in a request for guided service recently too and I hope the wait isn’t too long. I’ll be finishing up with the psych nurse on Friday. It turns out that I only have one session left. It would be nice to have a counsellor in between psych appointments. During my last appointment, my psych discussed the option of more supports. I do have weekly calls with peer support worker, that’s been helpful with the regular monthly psych, and my pdoc wanted to see me after a month to make sure things have stabilised

@creative_writer yeah absolutely, sometimes it's easy to forget just how much fulfilling our basic needs can impact our state of mind. Some tasty food, a bit of rest, chug some water, maybe a nice evening walk, all helpful! And I hope you can find the right balance in your support needs. Glad that you've hit up the GS for some of that in-between support, and yeah hopefully not too long a wait for you!

If you end up chatting to any of em and want to debrief after, feel free to tag me. Here for you on this journey hun, as best I can be 💜

@Jynx, I have a couple of things to do this evening. I have uni tomorrow and some prayers. I will call up if I need to later today. My brain feels a bit too exhausted to talk right now. I’ll be coming back earlier from uni tomorrow, so maybe tomorrow would be better

💖

Good idea @creative_writer - and good on you for being able to recognise your needs and not push yourself too hard 💜

How has uni been so far? Doing any units that are of particular interest to you this term?

@Jynx, the tutorials have been good so far. I just hope the tutor I have tomorrow is also lovely. I do love the staff at my uni, they’ll all very nice and professional. We don’t actually get much choice in units, most of them are core units. We do get an elective and I will be taking mine in September semester, I’ll be taking mental health. My ultimate goal is to become a mental health clinician.

Did your lived experience draw you to becoming a therapist?

Yeah it was a huge factor @creative_writer - I remember seeing this quote, "Be the person you needed when you were younger", and it really stuck with me. There were other factors, but I have always wanted to do something that helped make the world a better place, in whatever small way I could.

Glad that you have good tutors!! It legit makes such a difference. Was talking to my mum about this the other day actually, reflecting on my passion for science, particularly the natural sciences like biology and zoology. I could've ended up in one of those fields - except that in year 7-10 I had only two science teachers and I hated both of them. One was sooooo dull, the other was really intense on rules and doing things her way (which played havoc with my undiagnosed ADHD), and I ended up 'hating' science as a subject. Incredible the difference it can make to how our lives unfold!

What would your ideal setting be to practice in, like would you wanna do hospital care or an area of interest like drugs and alcohol or supporting kids etc.?

@Jynx, i love working and helping people, counselling skills come natural to me. I’ve also been a crisis supporter for a year plus, it was an amazing experience to gain skills. Uni has had its practical aspects too, even within the coursework. I do feel like I’m going to miss uni, that I almost feel tempted to do another degree 😂.

Yes having good tutors makes a huge difference.

Maybe youth mental health, probably more of a community setting than hospital. Hospitals are very stimulating environments

@creative_writer yeah they come natural to me too! I remember when I first started my counselling course and in the prac subjects we were learning like... active listening skills! How to show empathy! I was like uhhhh aren't these basic human qualities? Nope, apparently not! But it's good that they are things that can be taught!

Aww sounds amazing! I am not so good with youth, but I can very much picture you as being someone who can get on their level and communicate with them in their language!!

I'm off for tonight hun, thanks for the chats and hope you have a nice, chill evening. Take care of your wonderful self 💜🫂

@Jynx, I think skills are gained over time. I think my tutor could tell I had practice, I have utilised these skills with Lifeline and youth mentoring.

Youth are interesting, I feel like a lot of changes are happening. I was certainly a very annoying young person. Though you could probably could argue I’m young, but I’m getting closer to 30 now, I feel like my brain matured a few years back.

Thank you for the chat. I hope you have a lovely evening and get lots of rest 💖🫂

Ach @creative_writer definitely didn't get lots of rest! My insomnia is, thankfully, intermittent but when it strikes, I don't sleep. But hopefully tonight I will be out like a light haha.

Yeah I mean, they were definitely skills I needed to improve upon, and there's always other layers to it when it comes to clinical practice. Getting some volunteer experience on a support line was also incredibly valuable, I did about 18 months at a place called ARCVIC and without it, I definitely don't think I would have landed a role here.

Yeah in my experience, age has little to do with maturity. All about our environment and our choices, we are the sum of our experiences after all.

How's your day been anyhow?