Chicago Lakefront courtesy of “hotspotjournal.com”

After a wonderfully long and luxurious holiday break at home with my family, it was finally time for me to head back to the windy city. However, I haven’t come back to start my coursework quite yet—J-Term is a wonderful time of the year in which we have the month of January free, with the opportunity to utilize the time however we see fit. Last J-Term, I used the time to take some of our departmental electives, and continue nannying. This J-Term however, I came back for my clients.

photo courtesy of “selecthomecare.com”

Having the opportunity to work more days at my internship site has truly been a blessing. Going home for the holidays provided me with the restoration that I needed, but being away from my clients was often tough—I missed them! So it is no surprise that I have been enjoying my time with them, catching up on events I have missed out on, and building up therapeutic relationships again. The warm welcome back I received from all of them was a wonderful way to start off 2015. I am also thankful to have the time to actually focus on my clients and their needs, instead of stressing out about assignments and other grad school related things. I can feel myself becoming a more present and effective therapist.

Getting Healthy courtesy of “http://info.eccentex.com”

Along with spending more time with my clients, I also have more free time now than I know what to do with. I have been making the most of this new found freedom, and have filled my time with working out, eating right, reading, (netflixing), and actually taking care of myself for once! I have more energy, I feel more positive, and that feeling of “burn out” has finally left my body. It’s amazing what free evenings and weekends can provide!

This break has also provided me with the inspiration and motivation to really dive into the data collection process of my thesis. This month, many of us our meeting with our thesis advisers for the first time, which is exciting! Throughout our entire thesis process, we will have our thesis advisers to guide us along the way—providing us any help or advice that we may need. It’s promising to know that I will have someone keeping me on my toes throughout the entirety of this process. The thesis train has officially left the station, and I am in for a long, wild ride I’m sure!

Thesis Prep

I feel I should also mention that I haven’t evaded school COMPLETELY. We all of course must continue going in once a week for supervision if we are currently working at our clinical sites. This, of course, is necessary for ethical reasons, but also for our own self-care and sanity! It has also been really nice to see some of my lovely cohort back in the classroom again :) Here’s to a refreshing start to the new year!