Motivational Interviewing

ANOTHER DEDICATED HOMEWORK DAY, and this one was a bit more successful than the last. I will get my bearings; I need to be patient with myself.

I had a doctor's appointment. While all the babies were delightfully distracting with their gurgling and cooing, I was able to do some intermittent reading. I read about Motivational Interviewing. I think I get the gist of it. It's client-centered and directive. It's used often with the ambivalent client, and often with substance abusers and others who don't readily see the pain they are causing others with their behavior. I find it fascinating that it can be so successful in brief doses. It can be a precursor for other theory-based treatment, also. And, it can be used, replaced and used again, with the same client. I still have more to read about it, and I am diggin' it.

I took my book into the Mexican restaurant at lunchtime and spilled salsa on the page that held the definition for Motivational Interviewing! The stain may bring back a great memory one day.

Then I was off to the eyeglass store where I picked out a new pair that will hopefully help me to transition from computer to textbook and back again.

I got in a bunch of exercise, too, which is helping me to manage the stress of all the unfamiliar stuff I'm doing these days. Leaving the comfort zone (job) I was in for 10 years is harder than I thought. Don't get me wrong: I don't miss it and I don't want to go back. It was a routine and now it's gone. Time will move me into this new place.

Tomorrow (hopefully), I will meet my field instructor for the first time. I start my rotation training in Investigations. Over the weekend, at a dinner party, I met a new friend who is a police officer. He often is dispatched to homes where children are removed, and he meets the social worker(s) at the scene. We talked about our roles and I left with his business card. There's a good chance that I will see him on the job. It was a serendipitous evening and I love how life works out that way.

~Ms. T. J.