All the pieces are in place, and next week begins what I believe will be an interesting, exciting and successful adventure. I almost sound like Seattle there, but I'm fairly confident this is going to work out for my patients, as well as me.
Why the sudden influx of confidence, you might ask? Penny called me the other day, all on her own. We had a wonderful conversation about what we've each been up to since we decided to take a little hiatus from our marriage.
All in all, it was very positive, and I believe we are heading in the right direction. She even told me to expect something in the mail from her. I don't want to seem too optimistic here, but that can only be a good thing.
I look forward to my next entry, after my first meeting with my new patients.
In just a couple of week, my group therapy sessions will begin, and I'm getting a little concerned with some of my patients.
June thinks that signing up has caused some kind of karmic imbalance in her life. Reaper is adamant that this won't work. Izzie breathes heavily into the phone when I speak to her. Frankly, that worries me a bit.
Seattle and Trig, however, are still ready and eager to get started. Trig informed me that he purchased a couple of...adult items online in preparation. I won't go into the details here, but the sample images he sent me both concerned and confused me.
Seattle is very excited to begin. One I weed out all the guru quotes she throws out in her sentences, I get the sense that she will try the hardest to get through her issues. At least, that's what her guru says.
Penny answered the phone when I called her today. I was so excited, even though I had to block my number so it said "Unavailable" on her phone when I called. Those twenty-eight seconds were the longest we've talked in months. I'll take that a good start.
My subjects have so far been doing the pre-therapy work by posting their blogs online. It's been very interesting reading what is going on in their minds...I think it will help tremendously with our sessions. I also think their work will help me with my goals as well.
On a sadder note, I am sorry to say that my wife returned the book I sent her, my first published work, "How to Create and Maintain a Healthy Marriage," with every page ripped out and shredded. Normally, I'd be thoroughly offended over the destruction of fine literature, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the shredded pages will work out nicely as litter for my hamster's cage.
I'm not worried, though. After this group therapy experiment is over, I'll have all the information I'll need...for another book. And I guarantee my wife won't tear that one up....I hope.
Being a licensed therapist for the last fifteen years, it's never an issue finding patients since they usually come to me for help. However, when putting together a study, it is a little more difficult as your search field is refined to a particular type of patient or patients.
A prime example of this would be the study I'm currently preparing. My goal is to find five subjects from different backgrounds who have failed tremendously in maintaining a relationship. I believe through this dichotomy of failure that I will be able to discover where the balance lies in finding and maintaining a successful relationship.
I placed flyers in several pre-determined locations. I barely made it home before I received a call from a potential subject. He found my flyer at the local sperm bank and called me from the donating room to make sure he was the first to respond. Ten seconds into the call and I knew he fit perfectly into one of my subject categories.
It barely took a week to find all five subjects, which I found very impressive. I had no idea it would take so little time.
Speaking of time, it's been over seven months now, but I think we're finally starting to make some progress. She sent me a package in the mail last night. Sure, it was the two dozen roses I sent her for our twenty-second anniversary last week, but she thought of me long enough to return them to me.
That counts for something, right?
As a therapist and a person who encourages others to reach their personal and emotional goals, I thought it only fair and fitting that I make a record of my own goals so that I might set about creating a strategic plan to meet them.
Of course, there are the usual suspects....lose a couple of pounds. Get birthday cards out on time. Figure out a way to stop crying during lovemaking.
I will also resolve not to put too much pressure on myself to achieve these goals, not because they are not important, but because it is often the pressure that we put upon ourselves that causes us to fall short. At least that's what my mentor told me when I fell short of getting into Yale's program and ended up at the local JC instead. And look at me now. That education was perfectly suitable and has put me in a perfect position to create a warm and loving marital relationship as well as a steady and engaged client base. So I'll throw a few resolutions out there, see if they stick, and if so, then it's a pat on the back for me. If not...well...I'm only human. Until Halloween and then I become a griffin, but I digress...and resolve to make that costume work this year.
I will also get some new decorations for the office. Those fun and patterned tissue boxes really seemed to brighten things up at the conference this year. And maybe a picture of an iceberg. That sounds calming...and thematic.
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