Job Journal for Internship

 

unrelated photo, but Alex recreated Jimmy Johns at his house!

These past two weeks have been a test of my ability to set professional boundaries for myself with co-workers. My caseload has grown to a very respectable 13 clients and I continue to work 30 hours a week. My meditation practices continue to be helpful in managing my stress levels at work and helping me to focus on my clients. Completing them before I leave the office has continued to help me keep work at work. 

Last week I was offered full-time hours at the Eau Claire Academy and a pay raise. This was very complimentary and came out of nowhere. I was very flattered and made that known but was hesitant to accept the offer. I was assertive with my boss and requested the weekend to think the offer over and evaluate whether or not I would be able to handle the extra hours and maintain school. I decided I could not and declined the offer.

Additionally, I had to assert myself with my boss and tell her that I could no longer accept additional clients to my caseload. I am very busy with the client’s I do have and do not want to compromise the quality of my therapy for quantity. At the same time I informed my boss that I if I was going to keep my most recent client on my caseload that I did not feel comfortable completing as much office work as I have been this semester. 

This is a positive development for myself as a professional because I have the tendency to make personal sacrifices for the good of others or the group. Particularly because I am the lowest on the therapy totem pole at the Eau Claire Academy, my intentions all along have been to learn as much as I can and get through without making any waves. This changed once I got hired on and I now feel much more comfortable with the other therapists in the building. I am very proud of myself for standing my ground and asking for what I need from my co-workers. 

My next task at work is to let my boss know that I will not be staying on staff after the end of the year. Since I have officially decided to move overseas post graduation, I have decided that I need to let my boss know so that my clients have time to be transitioned to other therapists and she has time to find another therapist to hire on. I just found out today that she is under the assumption that I will want to sign a full-time contract with benefits once I graduate. My current contract only goes until the semester is over and when I was hired on the plan was to reevaluate my performance at the end of the year. 

My plan is to inform my boss of this information during our next supervision meeting later this week. I think she will be fairly understanding but am somewhat concerned based on what I know that happened to the last therapist that left the facility. Some of my co-workers have said that they would not want to tell our boss so far in advance, but I think it is the right thing to do. I think she will particularly appreciate this because there are two other therapists that are close to going on maternity leave. No matter how it turns out, I think it will be more good practice of my ability to be assertive towards authority figures.

Another advancement in my professional life is what I am doing to fulfill my personal life. I have recently joined a non mental health related club on campus, gotten more involved in my church, and started doing more sewing, cooking, and art in my free time. These have greatly enhanced the quality of my personal life and served as helpful coping skills when my personal life is stressing me out. I am currently logging my recreational activities and coping skills in a journal so I can keep track of which ones are more helpful in a variety of situations. This has been very beneficial and interesting for me to explore. It has helped me to further define my coping skills list to help me effectively manage my emotions.