I have always believed that Friday the 13th is a lucky day for witches. This theory has been reinforced today when the results of finals landed in my inbox. After five years of tedious essay writing and clinical hours, I am pleased to report that I have passed all sections of my diploma.
This means that I officially qualified as a psychotherapy counsellor today and I am now Marie Bruce Dip. T.C.
I already knew I was on track to pass, but having the official confirmation feels like such a surreal moment. It means that I will definitely be graduating in cap and gown this autumn with the rest of my classmates; those of us who have passed. Sadly some dropped out along the way, but you get that in any course. I'm really glad I stuck with it, as five years later I am now a qualified psychotherapist, with letters after my name, and the right to set up a private practice of my own if I want to do so, at some stage in the future.
I feel elated, shaky and a little bit stunned, to be honest. There were times when I thought I'd never get through it, times when I too wanted to drop out, leave the dreadful tutor behind and forget the whole thing. But winners never quit and quitters never win, so I stuck it out and now it has all come to a very happy ending.
Most of all, I feel a huge sense of relief. Relief that I never, ever have to write a tedious counselling essay again! Relief that all the placement report, clinical hours and paperwork has been approved by the examining board. Relief that the five years of training is actually over - it's finally over! No more essays, reports, classes, workshops, research projects, clinical hours, or admin to do. That's it now, I've done it all and I have achieved my goal and passed. Now I have a lovely graduation ceremony to look forward to in November, just before my birthday!
It feels weird too, because this has been one of the biggest 'writing projects' I have ever undertaken - five years of essay writing - and yet there is no published book at the end of it all. That feels a bit strange. But unlike many new counsellors, I won't try to fob-off my compiled essays as a 'book' and expect a commercial publisher to be grateful for it! Any new books I write, will be written from scratch, to commission, under contract, as usual.
Also, I do have my new psychotherapy column to start writing, and exactly ten years to the month after sitting down to write my first ever column for Spirit&Destiny, this weekend I will be sitting down to write my first ever psychotherapy column, which launches on August 4th 2018! So I've come full circle, with a brand new writing topic up my sleeve and the professional credibility to back it, with 20 years of publishing experience and 10 published books under my belt. I'm hoping to do lots more psychotherapy writing as well, for various publishers, as it is now my new genre of expertise.
So things are going quite well for me. Slowly, my reinvention of self is taking shape and my writing life is starting to reflect that. I am free to concentrate on building up this new profession and make the most of my recent training and qualifications in my writing career. And there will need to be a shopping trip for the perfect graduation outfit too! Meantime, today is definitely a day for me to celebrate...😻
xxx
Many, many congratulations, Marie.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much x
Delete