Sundance, Day 1 & 2

"The Lord is my shepherd..." ~ Psalm 23

The verse that has weighed on my heart since late April/early May is that of Psalm 23. There is significance in that and I have no doubt that it is He, my shepherd, that has gotten me to this point. What an amazing opportunity God has set before me. This week marked the beginning of my student internship as required for me to finish up my masters degree in Professional Counseling. By the end of this year I shall be known as Cristyn Rohloff, MA, LPC, NCC. It's kinda weird, all those letters behind my name. And no, I will not go around in public shouting my newly accrued title out loud just for the sake of saying it... that would be really weird.

When I walked into the offices at Sundance Behavioral Health Center in Ft. Worth on Monday morning I had no idea what to expect. Within 30 minutes of arriving I had finished paperwork and found myself sitting at a conference table with a "treatment team" assessing a few of the women in the women's group. It was a whirlwind to say the least, but I was just excited to be there and take it all in. My first 4 weeks at Sundance I have the privilege of working with the Adult Women's program that began in November of last year. It had never crossed my mind having an interest working with adult women, but in just 48 hours I see the pain and hunger in the faces of these women and how much they struggle to have some sort of normalcy back in their lives, one in which depression, pain, anxiety, and fear didn't exist... at least not to an extent that it prevented them from living their everyday lives.

As I've said and will continue to say, it is truly a privilege to be able to be a part of something so amazing and wonderful and life changing. Sundance also works with kids and adolescents (ages 5-18) and that is what drew me to the program initially. I will have the opportunity during my coursework to rotate into the other groups, but I'm learning that unexpectancy is the best expectation to have. I am really surprised at how quickly the skills and cues I've learned in the classroom have come instantaneously as I've sat and observed the women's group. I hope that in my short rotation in each group I'll have the chance to make some sort of impact on the lives of these clients... I can already tell they will most definitely make an impact on mine.

I will not be updating my blog each time I'm at my internship (Mondays and Tuesdays), however with each new rotation and as new changes come up I hope to update you dear readers on what is going on at Sundance. Please be praying for each patient, and most specifically right now that the women in this group would put forth the work and find a desire to change their lives. Something brought them here and something keeps them coming back for the time they are allotted at the center.