Wednesday, September 17, 2008

To my old high school chum...

Dear Sharon,
Thanks for agreeing to being part of the background investigation for my new job.
Yes, you aren't mistaken, I did just start a new job, but what's happening is that I'm finding that I need structure much more than I thought I did. The whole, care-free, hippie attitude at the counseling center is starting to drive me crazy.

For one thing, I didn't think that "non-profit" meant that NOBODY would get paid. One of our main funding sources, AMCI, ran out of money in August. Well, they got some more money this week, but in the meantime, we've been told that we won't get paid for the 3 or so weeks that they were out of money. In other words, I may have been screwed out of over $600 by the city of Albuquerque for therapy that I provided, based on vouchers they issued and won't honor.

WTF? I thought non-profit meant for the organization, not that the workers didn't get paid!

Other things that are starting to get to me:
  • People playing the flute, or guitar, or singing or laughing loudly right outside the window when I'm trying to conduct therapy.
  • A receptionist making fairly egregious errors that result in patients showing up even though she's had three days to inform them that their therapist will be gone that day, or therapists who go home, having been told they have no more clients, and then the client shows up.
  • Four of the staff members who regularly bring their dogs. It's a very small space, and most of them are large dogs (boxers, mastiffs). Only one of them is a certified therapy dog. Have you ever tried to have a professional meeting over the sound of a large dog eating lunch leftovers? It's a loud, sloppy noise that fills the room. During other meetings, I get a wet nose stuck at me constantly, and I'm constantly tripping over them in the 3' wide hallway.
  • Clients that hang out there all DAY, and have to be told, "You can't smoke here. You can't sleep here."
  • The whole lack of office space thing.
  • The whole lack of payment thing.
Still, I really am glad I gave it a shot, and lucky for me that I have the patient Baboo who tolerated this madness. I'd rather try something and have it not turn out right than to never have tried it and always wondered. No hard feelings. Time to move on.

Sooooo, yesterday, I turned in volume 1(19 pages) of the required federal paperwork for my new job in psychiatric research. I've been hired, but if you're contacted as part of the background investigation, say nice things about me, okay?

Counting down to sanity and structure and an office...oh, and a salary...

Meanwhile, I can always cope by calling up good, local friends and venting.

and, of course, there's always these:





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2 comments:

  1. How incredibly frustrating. Hope your new position is much more fulfilling!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ah structure. I know what you mean. that sh*t would drive any sane person bonkers.

    ReplyDelete

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 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...