Hugs

Connections with clients are the name of the game in psychology. Without a positive interaction with the person seeking your counsel - why bother? Why bother with the industry if you are there only for the paycheck and trust me that isn't too great at my level. You would think that crisis counseling would afford a great level of pay because we literally are saving lives, but that just isn't the case.

How often do we actually connect not only at an intellectual level with somebody, but through the heart, and even to the soul? Crazy question? Not really.

Let's face it, we are not robots. We are emotional beings whether we admit it or not. And trust me, we interact with our emotions more than we care to admit. If we are in a fowl mood - it's emotions. When we want to blame people for making us feel angry, depressed, or anxious - it's our emotions. When we feel unworthy in relationships, at work, or in our creative pursuits - it's our emotions that are leading the way!

How do we shift our emotions? When anger takes hold it can be a difficult beast to release. You first want to ask yourself if you want to let go of your attachment to being right. In the Win / Lose, we all lose - even the winner. In focusing on living life with a loving heart - no matter what the circumstance - God works through you.

I get tested especially - though I am sure there are those who get tested more. I put myself in the front lines in which people are so fed up with their emotional state, the governmental system which has failed them, and all they want to do is release their frustration if they feel "disrespected" by yet another person. Eight plus hours of this at the jobsite can drain you - trust me. Then what keeps me going? The heart to heart connections that can be easily achieved if you are willing to let down your guard and love the person who is seated in front of you. Who cares if they are a different color than you. So what if they have two heads. Gay, straight, have Aids, are Lepars - bottom line everybody is deserving of love.

I had a few great sessions today. Well in all actuality they all went pretty well. Even when I think the client and I aren't on the same page I at least make the effort and try to show them I care about their fate. In just the effort alone I get rewarded. Often people open up and share the sensitive information they have been hiding inside for years! That is my real reward. In fact after doing this today I got a huge hug! Who would have thought the angry person I brought into the facility would leave teary eyed and happy?

If I don't receive the huge bucks, hey, a great hug is appreciated - along with the food the drug reps bring in from time to time.

May you all have great mental health.