Going to Chicago!

Tonight after our Rush event, I will be heading down to Chicago with my Kappa Chi sister Katie. She lives in Chicago, and Kate Gosselin from the show Jon and Kate plus 8 will be speaking at her church Sunday morning! I'm obsessed with the show, and I'm so excited to hear Kate speak. She is a great mother, and a former nurse, and she's raising 8 of the cutest little kids I have ever seen! It's kind of embarrassing, but I can tell the sextuplets apart and I know all of the kid's names. I can't wait for tomorrow morning!!!

Psych

I just started my Psychology clinical this semester. I refer to Mondays and Tuesdays as the days that I get to play with crazies. I will be working with children, teens, and adults with a variety of problems at the mental health center. The location of my practicum is only for people in an acute state of crisis, which means they must be a danger to themselves or others. Most patients only stay for 4 or 5 days before they head back home. Even though I enjoy psychology, the practicum is pretty intense. I have to remember to always be between the patient and the nearest exit, and we were told to wear shoes that would allow us to sprint easily. I've sat in on therapy and heard a 7 year old boy say that he hates himself because he beats up his mom. I got to work with a 6 year old who cleans constantly and witnessed his father beat his mom. I even got to watch 5 staff restrain a boy who went into a fit of rage and tried to attack one of the employees. My friend Laura was able to counsel a woman who tried to commit suicide after her 16 year old killed himself while only his 4 other siblings were home...and that was just my first week on the unit.
Last week I was able to watch ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy. That was by far one of the coolest things I'd ever seen. Apparently the nurses will sometimes convince the client to fake a seizure at the wrong time just to scare the shit out of the doctor. The doctor who ran the ECT was a sweetheart, and one of his schizophrenic patients even wrote him a love poem, which he read outloud before inducing her seizure. The seizure itself is not violent or painful because of the meds and anesthesia given to the patient. Recovery only 20 minutes, and appears quite painless. The nurses swear by this procedure and say they've witnessed miraculous improvements in many patients. The best part is, we have no clue how it works.

Arin's Party

Recently, Wade and I attended Arin's 34th Birthday party, and everybody was in the mood to celebrate. Dr. and Mrs. Neucks were especially excited to let loose for the evening; I'm pretty sure the Thomas hats were what made them so playful. I spent the evening listening to their stories and playing with Spencer. He really loved those balloons! However, the best part about going to Arin and Jobie's has got to be the coffee. Jobie has a coffee problem, much like myself. It is nice to know that there is always a pot of coffee on and multiple coffee creamers to try whenever I visit them. Maybe that sounds weird or kind of shallow, but the woman makes a mean cup of coffee!