his words . . .

back in february,
i was sitting in the play therapy room
at work with my colleagues and our spouses.

it was our christmas party

because we are therapists,
we don't care about things like
having christmas parties in the correct month.

and because we are therapists,
we do things at christmas parties
that most people wouldn't.

like take an hour and a half,
cocktails in hand,
to encourage one another.
as a staff, we shared all of the things
that we admire and respect about
our colleagues & team mates.

then our spouses got to speak.
and they were asked to share a trait
that we have that is a contribution to our team . . .
and THEN . . .
an area THEY would like to see us grow or push ourselves . . .
PROFESSIONALLY!

it was a gusty move on the part of
the conductor of ceremonies!
but it was cool.

i remember everything herb said.

"cara loves helping people learn about therapy - she is always so excited and pumped up after a team meeting. i would like to see her push herself a little and share her gifts more."

it is amazing what the words of a spouse can do to a person.

it can break a person down.

or it can build a person up.
it can give a person the courage they need to take a risky step.
because they know they are supported and loved
by someone who believes in them

because somebody thinks they have something worth sharing

so i did it
i created an internship program
for Foundations Family Counseling
a Master's level, year long internship program
for counseling students

i wrote curriculum
i marketed to schools
i interviewed candidates
i made binders with lots of information
and i bought snacks

because snacks are important

and yesterday,
for 6 hours,
i led the first day of orientation
for my first class of interns!

and it went fabulously!