Lawless in LaLa Land

Working my way through Law and Mental Health: A Case Based Approach and feeling more alarmed by the minute. This always happens to me when I read psychology law.

Case #1, Tarasoff v. The Regents of California, how the psychologist did everything right, was sued and lost the case.

Case #2, Almonte v. New York Medical College, how the psychiatrist did everything right, was sued and lost the case.

Case #3, Garner v. Stone, how the psychologist carefully read Tarasoff and Almonte, did everything right, was sued and STILL lost the case.

AKK! The book actually states, and I quote (obviously):

Perhaps there is a moral for mental health practitioners in these latter cases: Sometimes even professionals who go to extreme lengths to protect the rights of society and their clients do not win, which is why they should be well insured

Wondering why we don't have a course dedicated to choosing the best kind of insurance...

Why so sad little girl?

Been down and irritable lately and no clue why. I had a baddish couple of days at practicum. A really rough domestic violence case that didn't belong in the agency. The Executive Director, who occasionally takes calls, for some reason let herself be fast talked out of saying no to a clear cut case of DV. She told them she'd let the intake person make the call, despite the fact that the client said, "I'll just lie in the intake." Guess who did the intake! No dice, no couples therapy, very angry client with history of violence. Grand.

Then I disagreed with my supervisor about a premarital case. Just a difference of perspective about the nature of therapy. Not a big deal but one of a bunch of little disillusionments about someone I have placed on a pedestal. My bad, not his, but then I question if I'm being arrogant and that spirals into a bunch of negative self talk... blah.

I find I'm just out of umph lately and have short termer's syndrome really badly. I do enjoy my forensic's classes though, so that's good. The silly school bookseller is seriously lame this quarter and I have only half my books though, so that's not helping matters any. Should have gone with my usual sources. Live and learn!

No doubt I'll rally and come back here and delete this gloomy rant. I really just want to soak up some sun with a tasty toddy and a junk novel right now. Maybe a hot shower will take away all this negativity, ya think?

Amused to no end...

I have received CONGRATULATIONS on passing my State Exam. I did not take any exam, mind you, I simply filled out a State application for employment. Somehow though, I not only passed my exam, I was assigned a 90%. I can't decide whether to be happy I got an A or unhappy that I didn't get all the possible points. It's hard to learn from this, seeing as I can't recall the test or the study materials...

Methinks there is a massive SNAFU involving programming in our state employment system that we likely have never had the money to correct.

Blah

Soooo tired I just can't get moving today. I think I'll take a nap on the porch because later it will be windy and I'll regret missing my sun time if I crawl back in bed.

Week one is done and that means 9 to go! Yep, I have that irritating countdown bug people get when something is getting close that really nobody else cares about that much. Sorry... I have only spurts of short termer's syndrome. I know it will hit hard when the first big project/paper is due though.

My classes are all interesting and mediation is completely new to me! It's been a long time since anything has been fresh like that, seeing as I'm in the piled higher and deeper category, I already have a good foundation to pile onto. I'm LOVING learning all new concepts and terminology. It's rather disturbing to learn that mediation, as it is most commonly taught, is about as anti-therapeutic as can be. Wow... I mean I know it's not therapy, but c'mon people, there are human beings here! Thankfully my instructor is quite aware of that and we are learning how to do this in ways that will meet our ethical standards. So far though, we are learning about how those not in the mental health field do this, and it's pretty painful.

I'm over it now, but was seriously ticked off about the class where I had that big paper to do over the break. The MF gave me an INCOMPLETE!!! After staying up all night, literally, to get it done by his abruptly altered deadline, I apparently sent it to an e-mail addy he neglected to check. Never mind it was the one on the syllabus. Gah! It will be fine, I will have my grade on Monday and nobody will be the wiser that this happened, but I still think it sucks.

So off now to alternately nap and read in the sun. My expert witness class requires that we read the entirety of two weighty tomes, "at our leisure" with no guidance about what, in particular, we are supposed to pay attention to. We'll find that out on the final, which is open book/open notes. Had this guy for Ethics and Law in my first year and already know about his 'easy' finals. The last one was so traumatic I was a zombie afterward and got in a car accident on my way home. Lalalalala... whatever, it will be my last final EVER in this program. So there!

I'm Being Followed

So the other day I was at the bank and I noticed a dark brown elastic hair band on the ground. It was in perfect condition and I thought of how I had lost both mine like that, but ikk.. it was on the ground, you know?

Then yesterday I was at my practicum and saw the same hairband on the sidewalk by the parking meter. Ok, weird.

Just this afternoon at the grocery store, another dark brown elastic hairband in perfect condition was on the ground in the parking lot next to my car. TOOO WEIRD.

What does it want? Is it one of the ones I lost? Does it know I want one like it? Is it 3 or is it only the one again and again? Should I stop going out? =0