Group leading!!

This week I started leading groups officially! I have absolutely loved it. Of course there are times when it's hard but I am still adjusting and as much as I wish it were true, I can't be perfect all the time. I just want to be really good at it RIGHT NOW. But that's super unrealistic. I'm just really excited about the prospect of being an awesomely good therapist. So on Tuesday I lead the open adult group and did an activity with the song "Live Like A Warrior" by Matisyahu and we talked about negative thoughts vs. positive thoughts. They wrote a negative thought on paper to throw in the "fire" then they wrote a positive thought on another slip of paper and kept it with them. There was a lot more to it but that was the basic premise. Then later I did the same thing with the adolescent group. I wasn't expecting to lead them but it ended up happening because Monday we had all the kids together and there are A LOT more than usual so it was really... not working out. The problem is there are really young kids with really old kids and it's difficult to find a group activity appropriate for everyones age. So Tuesday we split it up and I had the older group and it was SUCH a good group. I feel like I connected well with them and I really really enjoyed it. Today I lead the younger kids(there were only three of them) but they are difficult. Adorable and fun, but difficult. One of the kids has IED, ODD, and ADHD. Dang. I tried really hard to keep him happy haha It was SO adorable though because as soon as I started singing and playing my guitar they just sat and STARED at me. QUIETLY. It was really really adorable. They were all three little boys so of course my heart was melting the whole time. (I LOVE LITTLE BOYS) Not in a creepy way... o_o I feel like this time in my internship is exciting because I'm just discovering my passions for different populations/age groups. It's awesome that I can be working with completely "out there" adults in the morning and little kids in the afternoon then military guys later in the afternoon. I love it! Another thing that's awesome about this time in my internship is I feel I'm getting to know the patients better since I've been more involved in group leading and everything. I can walk in the hall and have conversations with them and ask about their days. Which I lovvveeee. I think it's funny that that's such a hard thing for me to do out in the "real world" but I feel so much more comfortable being personable with the patients?? Maybe it's an authority thing and has to do with my position or something. Either way, I find it interesting. Apparently the expressive therapists used to have to do assessments with the patients which is a good opportunity to get to know the patients in a one to one setting and to learn about if they are interested in any art/music type stuff and what kind of music they like. I feel like this would really help the groups! Because I think it's so important to do things patients are interested in, or at least things that will get their attention and feel connected to the therapist in a way so they can gain that rapport with them. It's just that there's literally NO TIME to do assessments... which sucks. I think I would really like sitting down with patients in a one to one setting and getting to know them. My supervisor keeps saying they're probably going to make the expressive therapy department start doing them again since I'm here, but I have no idea when we would have time to do them?? Two more things. On Monday morning I played guitar for the song "Count On Me" by Bruno Mars and one of the military guys sang as part of his "goodbye group" or whatever they do on the military unit when someone is discharging. He said he picked that song because he felt like he grew really close to everyone there and wanted them to know they could count on him or something cute like that. All the patients were singing with it and it was SO CUTE and touching! I finally finished making a workout CD for one of the military patients and she was soooo happy! She has been wanting some good music to listen to while working out for a while now. She was saying how nice it was of me to take time and make it for her and that she felt like she was going to cry! I told her I loved making CDs and I enjoyed making it for her. My supervisor told me to be careful with stuff like that because we aren't supposed to be giving patients gifts and that everyone might start wanting CDs and stuff but I told her I made it to leave on the unit for anyone that wanted to use it which she said was fine. I just don't know if the patient I gave it to thought that... oops. Anyways I feel like I am growing more and more passionate about this population and I'm loving it more every day. I hope my passion continues to grow and it's not just a passing phase!!