A few short months ago, I began an internship to complete my Master’s Degree in Couple and Family Counseling. Last Fall, in the midst of my practicum experience at my university’s student and community counseling center, I pursued and succeeded in securing an internship with a Child and Family Therapist, who is trained in Somatic Psychology and Dance Movement Therapy. In her practice, she works with children and their families. The majority of these children are birth – 5 years old. Most of these children have experienced a trauma in their life: via post or perinatal experience, abuse, living in a conflict-ridden family, or having a history with Social Services.
Reflecting upon the path I’ve taken to arrive here, I can now clearly see that each step along the way has contributed to and given meaning to the place I am today. Many years ago, when I left my parent’s home to begin my undergraduate education, I knew I wanted to be a teacher and most of all, I knew I wanted to work with very young children. I also left my parent’s home, having suffered the loss of my older brother and only sibling to cancer, only six months earlier.
The next 25 years of my life were filled with teaching, parenting, completing a Master’s Degree in Family Life Science, and working as a children’s ministry director. It wasn’t until my resignation from this last position that I recognized I had never completely grieved the loss of my brother, for at age 18, I was anxious to explore my freedom and get on with my adult life.
This next step on my path, stopping….truly stopping…and listening to my heart was the most important step I would take to date. Being intentionally unemployed, and having just sent another child off to college, I finally took the time to care for myself and to intentionally mourn a long time loss. I was extremely fortunate to have a trusted mental health professional to help facilitate this process. This process was life changing. As life changing events tend to do, it led me down a path I probably would never have intentionally chosen….the path to becoming a counselor.
Full steam ahead, I applied to graduate school and took a part time job in early childhood education. It was just a job….something I knew I could easily do while I worked on my degree. And now, three and a half years later, I chuckle every time I think about my attempts to label this simply as ‘a job’. Let’s be honest. How much of the unfolding of our lives is truly that ‘simple’? This job re-opened my eyes to my love for working with children. It reminded me how much I believe that children are the future. It reminded me how insightful children are and how much they are able to teach us….if we only take the time to stop…truly stop…and listen.
Debbie Carter is a counselor-in-training who is interested in helping children and families heal from trauma, grief, and loss through play therapy; for more information http://www.linkedin.com/pub/debbie-carter/23/7a6/801.