I spent the month of June studying the craft of therapeutic writing, both in terms of writing as self-therapy and teaching it as a subject and therapy tool. As a lifelong journal writer and diarist, I firmly believe in writing as a tool of self-reflection and in the healing power of journaling. I often joke that my therapist is called Paige, when I am in fact referring to the page I write on in my journal, because I do prefer to counsel myself.
It has been an interesting topic to study, especially studying poetry as therapy, as I do love poetry. It is such a charming form of writing and I quickly noticed through my work as a counsellor at Cruse Bereavement Care, that it is a form of writing that people naturally turn to when struggling with grief. Clients found great comfort in reading and writing poetry that expressed their feelings of loss, despair and abandonment.
I liked the teaching aspects a lot too and it will be very useful when I see clients and when I write my psychotherapy column each month. It has been a great insight and has sown seeds of possible options that I might look into at a later date.
It has also brought home to me the fact that I return to formal academics myself in less than ten weeks, when I begin to study a Masters degree. There has been quite a bit of administration to do for that, prior to matriculation. I'm starting to get excited at the prospect of being in lectures again. I do enjoy studying and I find it therapeutic. Achievement is good for you; it stops you being stuck in a rut and academic work improves your meta-cognition process and therefore your self-awareness and overall personal development.
I have never wanted to wake up later in life and wonder why I haven't achieved anything. I never wanted to be a hamster on the wheel, trudging off to work everyday in a dull job and drinking away the weekends. I have always had ambitions. I have always set goals for myself and I do tend to achieve those goals, largely because I don't give myself any other option! I keep at it until it is achieved.
Earlier this year I decided that I wanted to get my CPD out of the way before the end of summer and I have now done that, first with a course in Pet Bereavement Therapy and now Therapeutic Writing. So with my CPD obligations in the bag, I can turn my attention to preparations for university and tick off items on that to-do list.
I remember last summer, I felt very wistful at the back-to-school rituals going on around me, knowing that I would not be a part of it. I had decided to take a year out between qualifying as a psychotherapist, which I did last July, and moving onto the next level of studying. I do think that was the wise thing to do as I was mentally exhausted after five years psychotherapy training, but I still missed the excitement of looking forward to going back to class and all the preparation that entails.
This year, indeed for the next two years, I can fully participate in the age-old autumn tradition of going back to class! I feel thrilled and privileged to be able to look forward to doing a Masters degree. I know it will be stressful because academic pressure is designed to induce stress in students; but I also know that it is a golden opportunity and a vital stepping stone on the path of my life plan.
It's wonderful to have that feeling of moving forward in my life; of sowing the seeds of future dreams and achievements; to look forward to that feeling of belonging with another group of students who are all working towards a common goal and who have a similar mind-set; that feeling of academic community is second to none and I have missed it greatly this past year.
So I am concentrating on the beginnings of my next goal and making myself as prepared as I can be. Twenty published books, two columns, one album, two professions and countless magazine articles and clinical hours on...and I am ready to start achieving something new!
Roll on September...I can't wait.
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