Finally all my schoolwork is completed, resume updated, forms filled out, supervised hours all done, references and transcripts arranged for and criminal records check sent in and back. The whole package has been sent off to the registering body for consideration this October, and God-willing and the creeks don't rise I'll be a registered clinical counsellor before 2012. It takes such a long time! But I have a friend who's about to be licensed as a psychologist in California and she needed to complete 1000 hours of supervision first so I can't complain.
This summer I've been taking it easy with a fair bit of time off to relax and enjoy my garden, Vancouver and the little fishing village I live in called Steveston. I also bought a used bicycle and have taken up riding for exercise. Other than a nasty spill on Thursday and a skinned knee, it's proved to be very beneficial.
One of the things I've been working on in my time off is an update and minor re-organization of the Resources page. Instead of just 8 categories of gradual exposure I now have 10 plus four more in the "miscellaneous" sections. After working with over 30 clients the past year I noticed what was in the wrong order and what was missing. I now have a level called "sentences" which comes in after "words" and before "drawings." I also added a level of pictures of people around toilets - something that many emetophobes have a problem with. In the miscellaneous section is a page about animals, hospitals, a simple picture of a water fountain and a "is it soup" quiz that demonstrates how we assign the property "disgusting" to some things which look exactly like other things that we don't deem disgusting at all.
I haven't finished the "sentences" section yet, and I also hope to add another level soon called "in vivo" which means "in reality" - things that people can gradually begin to do in real life such as not washing hands so much, not disinfecting everything, not throwing out food, etc.
I really hope that the new resource page helps a lot of therapists in treating emetophobia and also understanding it so that as many people as possible can overcome this phobia! Stay tuned for my fall newsletter!
This summer I've been taking it easy with a fair bit of time off to relax and enjoy my garden, Vancouver and the little fishing village I live in called Steveston. I also bought a used bicycle and have taken up riding for exercise. Other than a nasty spill on Thursday and a skinned knee, it's proved to be very beneficial.
One of the things I've been working on in my time off is an update and minor re-organization of the Resources page. Instead of just 8 categories of gradual exposure I now have 10 plus four more in the "miscellaneous" sections. After working with over 30 clients the past year I noticed what was in the wrong order and what was missing. I now have a level called "sentences" which comes in after "words" and before "drawings." I also added a level of pictures of people around toilets - something that many emetophobes have a problem with. In the miscellaneous section is a page about animals, hospitals, a simple picture of a water fountain and a "is it soup" quiz that demonstrates how we assign the property "disgusting" to some things which look exactly like other things that we don't deem disgusting at all.
I haven't finished the "sentences" section yet, and I also hope to add another level soon called "in vivo" which means "in reality" - things that people can gradually begin to do in real life such as not washing hands so much, not disinfecting everything, not throwing out food, etc.
I really hope that the new resource page helps a lot of therapists in treating emetophobia and also understanding it so that as many people as possible can overcome this phobia! Stay tuned for my fall newsletter!
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