[humanser] blind-counselors: Fwd: Conference Call Reminder

[Mary Chappell]

Oh Jessica,
The Human Services division has a conference call scheduled for Sunday,
August 2. Unfortunately,  that is the first of two days of comprehensive
exams for me and I will not be on the call. I have pasted the pertinent info
below. I know your  participation would be welcomed.
Take advantage of   every opportunity!
Best,
Mary Tatum Chappell, M.A.

See below.
Good day we are holding our first Human Services Division conference call
after a very successful meeting at national convention.  The call will take
place on Sunday, August 2, 2009 beginning at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight time.
'the number to call is 712-775-7100 pass code 147688 then press pound. We
will discuss our program at convention and where we want to go as a division
in the future.  I want to Thank Melissa Riccobono for her many years of
great service as our president.  
Each day is a precious gift.
David R. Stayer, LCSW
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-----Original Message-----
From: Jessica Snyder [mailto:jsnyder3986 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 9:26 PM
To: blind-counselors at topica.com
Subject: Re: blind-counselors: Fwd: Conference Call Reminder

Thanks Mary,
I have actually been a member of this list for several months but haven't 
posted much. Do you know of how to join either NFB or AcB's HPS groups?
Thanks
Jessica
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Chappell" <mtc5 at cox.net>
To: <blind-counselors at topica.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 6:42 PM
Subject: RE: blind-counselors: Fwd: Conference Call Reminder


> Jessica,
> No need for licensure to take part in the activities and threads on the 
> NFB
> Human Services list. I am a student as well and have found both lists
> helpful. It's always good to get positive, productive, genuine, feedback 
> and
> insight on the experiences as a mental health professional. Welcome 
> aboard.
> Mary Tatum Chappell, M.A
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jessica Snyder [mailto:jsnyder3986 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 3:18 PM
> To: blind-counselors at topica.com
> Subject: Re: blind-counselors: Fwd: Conference Call Reminder
>
> Hello all,
> I for one would be open to articles on this list. I am a newbie (obtaining
> my masters) so would appreciate any experience the rest of you would be
> willing to pass along.
> Do you need to be a licensed psychologist to join either NFB or ACB's HSP
> groups? Thanks to Andy I always know what is being discussed at ACB's HSP
> phone calls but am not sure of the procedure to join.
> Thanks
> Jessica
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carmella D Broome" <cdbroome at att.net>
> To: <blind-counselors at topica.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 12:43 PM
> Subject: Re: blind-counselors: Fwd: Conference Call Reminder
>
>
>> Hi everyone, the list has been practically dead for a while now.  I  know
>> we are all busy professionals and students and that all lists go through
>> periods of   more and less activity. I am on  both the NFB and ACB Human
>> Services lists also.  It seems to me that the ACB list stays a little 
>> more
>
>> active because people post  articles to discuss and so on.  Is that
>> something y'all would like for me to start doing?  I'm always reading
>> things.  What are other ideas you have to make the list more active?  I 
>> am
>
>> open to suggestions.
>>
>> I recently attended a CBT training.  The state  AMHCA conference is 
>> coming
>
>> up on August 8.  I went to last year's and it was very good. I'm not sure
>> what the topics are for this year  but they try and make it very relevant
>> to those in private agency or practice work. My boss is very involved in
>> our state's AMHCA division as she feels it is more clinical  than ACA and
>> more relevant to what we do.  I suppose I tend to agree from what I've
>> seen.  I want to go to  a state AAMFT conference and may attend the fall
>> one, which is held in my city.  It seems like I could join about 20
>> organizations and find them all relevant to one degree or another but I
>> have to make decisions about what is most relevant. Some of this also
>> comes down to who's publications are more accessible, etc.
>>
>> I also just renewed my extension on my MFT intern license due to still
>> trying to get needed supervision hours. I've been working on it since
>> April of 2005, but up until  late 2007, most of my efforts were going
>> towards completing the  LPC intern process since I could be supervised
>> through my workplace and then get on pannels.  I hope to  finish the MFT
>> supervision during the next couple years.  I have all the client contact
>> hours but just have to get in  more time with my MFT supervisor.   There
>> are far fewer MFT supervisors around than  LPC supervisors but I do have 
>> a
>
>> good one. He's been in the field for years and  knows his stuff. I found
>> out yesterday that my boss is paying our LPC licensure renewal fees this
>> year, which is nice. Those come up this coming month.
>>
>> I think I'll have our crisis phone this weekend for the first  time in a
>> while.  My boss is going out of town. Usually, she has it.  Summer is an
>> interesting time around the office.   I don't see as much of a lot of my
>> adolescent female clients and  even the adults are on vacation a lot and
>> so on.  We've started calling  to  remind people of their appointments 
>> the
>
>> day before. One of our admin staff does that. We started that about  four
>> months ago, I guess. Still, if we leave messages on people's home phones
>> and they're out of town, they won't get them and then they miss
>> appointments and such.
>>
>> Yesterday, my 11 am  late canceled that morning and then I had 2 no 
>> shows.
>
>> So, I  didn't have clients from 11 to 4.  I'd like to say I got a lot of
>> paperwork done, but  that's not as true as it could be.  I got some
>> paperwork done.  So, I had a 10 am and then my 4 pm and then  a new 5 pm
>> came in. Rather, they came in.  By they, I mean the parents and all 4
>> young children.  I  told the parents  I would have to spend some time 
>> with
>
>> each of them individually while the other parent stayed with the 
>> children.
>
>> They said they'd been told they could bring their kids and  leave them in
>> a nearby office. They'd come to our agency once before and been allowed 
>> to
>
>> do this when seeing another therapist and  one of our admin folks had
>> agreed to kind of keep an eye on the kids.  They were told they could not
>> bring their children  and expect  us to have a place for them to play and
>> people to watch them in the future. I found that part out later, but
>> suspected already that they had not been told such a thing.
>>
>> So, they  show up with the kids again, wanting to see a different
>> therapist than the one they'd been seeing for reasons unknown to me.  We
>> don't like for people to just ask to switch without   speaking to their
>> therapist first about their concerns, but somehow these people managed to
>> get themselves switched.  I'm not sure how.  I had planned to just see
>> what was up and then go from there with them. I already had a  bad 
>> feeling
>
>> about them and it had been bugging me all day.  I suppose I should have
>> done something about that feeling.  I'd thought  about going to my boss 
>> to
>
>> let her know about the sneak transfer issue, but decided to suck it up 
>> and
>
>> just see what was going on with them. Just from what I knew of how the
>> situation came about, I felt like they were  playing around with us,
>> pulling us as an agency into their dysfunction. I certainly had no idea
>> they'd show up with their entire family.
>>
>> So, when I found out that was  the situation, I was like, "You've got to
>> be kidding me!"  They told me what they thought they could do and I asked
>> how old the children were.  They ranged from mid elementary school on
>> down. The Mom said the youngest was 4 and the child immediately popped up
>> and said, "I'm three!" so I knew the Mom was lying to me.  There wasn't a
>> teenaged child on hand who  could  be considered proper supervision for
>> them. I didn't know they'd gotten away with this once before and told our
>> business manager that, if he  let them  do  what they  wanted and watched
>> the kids, as he suggested,  they'd think they could do it again.  He 
>> said,
>
>> "No, I'll tell them they can't." I told him we needed to draw a hard line
>> and  tell them they'd have to reschedule.  Then, I  just said, "You 
>> handle
>
>> it and let me know what happens."  If he wanted to  watch the kids, that
>> would be up to him.  I was less than enthused at this point about seeing
>> them already.
>>
>> Our business manager told     them the children could play in our lobby
>> and that he would be in  the next office to  sort of keep an eye on them,
>> but that they would need to find other arrangements for their children 
>> in
>
>> the future.  He  explained that 4 young children unattended  was a
>> liability to us, that  there would not  always be extra space available,
>> that leaving them unattended was not an option as there were other 
>> clients
>
>> in and out of the office and they  would not  be able to be very 
>> focussed
>
>> on  the counseling session if they  were worried about their kids, and so
>> on. Basically, stating the obvious. The husband,  who apparently  had 
>> been
>
>> seeking help for anger management issues anyway, got very indignant and
>> said they'd been told they could bring their kids and  also told  our
>> business manager that I was very rude to him when I told him  they
>> couldn't both be seen together since they'd brought all their  children.
>> He said I needed an attitude adjustment."
>>
>> Can we say entitlement and that he didn't like a woman standing up to 
>> him.
>
>> "Hi, I pay out of pocket full fee so  you should tell me what I want to
>> hear or I'll see a different counselor and  I also expect you to provide
>> us with child care."  Please!  They got their money back and left, which
>> was more than fine with me. I feel bad for the kids and maybe the wife,
>> but good grief,   if they can't ever go anywhere without their children,
>> then that's problem one with their marriage right there. It should go
>> without saying that you don't take your small children with you to a
>> counseling appointment. These people apparently have enough money to pay
>> full fee out of pocket so its not about lack of finances, and even if it
>> were, we  don't provide on site childcare for our clients. Perhaps we
>> should and add a beverege and snack  and movie service like on airplanes,
>> too, for those who are waiting or for clients before and after sessions.
>> Maybe a hot tub and a maseus and   a work out room.  The benefit of all
>> that would be that the counselors could use those things, too.  Now that 
>> I
>
>> think about it, not a bad idea.
>>
>> So, then, no 5 pm either.  I did have a 6 and then I got to leave early 
>> as
>
>> my last client of the day canceled. So, out of a possible 8 sessions, I
>> did 3.  Wow!  Not complaining, though. I like quiet days. I have MFT
>> supervision later today.
>>
>> So, that's how my  counseling world is. Does my UPR sound a little 
>> busted?
>
>> I'm a horrible therapist, right?  No doubt someone here will think I am.
>> I just don't feel like being super compassionate towards these particular
>> people today, that's all.  I have no relationship with them and the first
>> impression on both sides was not a good one.
>>
>> What's going on with the rest of you? Andy has let us know how the ACB
>> convention went. Anyone go to the NFB convention and  want to let us know
>> how the NFB human services division is doing?
>>
>> Carmella
>> -----------
>>
>>
>> This list is for those in the helping professions (counselors, social
>> workers, psychologists, etc.) to network, receive support, exchange
>> information,  and discuss issues related to being blind and working as a
>> mental health professional.
>> To subscribe, send a message to
>> blind-counselors-subscribe at topica.com
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send a message to
>> blind-counselors-unsubscribe at topica.com
>>
>> To send a message to the group, send it to
>> blind-counselors at topica.com
>>
>> To contact the list owner, send a message to
>> cdbroome at worldnet.att.net
>>
>>
>
> -----------
>
>
> This list is for those in the helping professions (counselors, social 
> workers, psychologists, etc.) to network, receive support, exchange 
> information,  and discuss issues related to being blind and working as a 
> mental health professional.
>
> To subscribe, send a message to
> blind-counselors-subscribe at topica.com
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to
> blind-counselors-unsubscribe at topica.com
>
> To send a message to the group, send it to
> blind-counselors at topica.com
>
> To contact the list owner, send a message to
> cdbroome at worldnet.att.net
>
>