My Journey Home

I’ve had a case of writer’s block over the last few weeks. I think it is because I have been spending time on making a big change in my life. That change is about to take place over the next few weeks. It’s what I mean by my journey home. Let me explain.

My first job, when I was 13, was delivering Grit newspapers to many of the residents of uptown Slatington. Over the course of a long career, my work journey has taken me to many places. I started working in Slatington but have been to places as far away as Tha Toom, Thailand and Netanya, Israel and Aanekoski, Finland. It’s been an adventure and I really haven’t traveled much since I entered the Mental Health Counseling field.

My career as a counselor has also been a journey. Entering this field was not entirely altruistic. I was looking for an escape from the corporate world. I didn’t like the corporate life and the corporate life didn’t like me. The only thing I miss is the money! I started in Mental Health by working in a counseling “factory”, the MH/MR agency of Schuykill County. From there I worked with women getting their lives back after spending time in prison, at The Program for Women and Families. After that it was Crime Victims Council and counseling rape victims and sexual abuse survivors, as well as the families of homicide victims. That was very rewarding work. What followed that was non-rewarding work, counseling sex offenders. The only good thing about that was that the three hours, a week, the sex offender was with me, he wasn’t hurting anyone else. Then came the jump into private practice, where I have been working for about sixteen years. I have followed the typical flow of this career, from agency to agency to private practice. Many clinicians in this field have the desire to have their own solo practice. That is my journey home.

Starting in September, and lasting for a few more years, I will have my own solo practice in my beloved hometown, Slatington. Fingers crossed that it works as I finish my working career at the end of my journey.