New Homes - Week 1

So far I have gone to a couple homes to meet children I will potentially be working with.  Each time, I get a little nervous because entering someone else's personal space as a stranger holds a lot of unknown factors.  I've learned to come prepared.  I have a bouncy ball in my car at all times just in case the child I am working with has a lot of pent up energy.  I have cray-pas and paper within arm's reach.  I have embroidery floss for those who want to make bracelets, and model magic if someone needs to keep his or her hands busy.

My initial meetings usually end up involving coloring.  On a personal level, I've found that it is easier to talk about things when I'm doing something else mindless.  I have a mandala template coloring book that I've made copies of.  This has gone over really well.  I bring all sorts of media: cray-pas, colored pencils, markers.  We both busy ourselves in coloring our mandalas while we get to know each other.  It creates a buffer, a sort of protection in the early stages of our time together.  

This mandala template is from http://www.freecoloring.info/mandala-coloring-pages.php

Never Too Early to Talk About Termination... - Week 1

I have been at my internship site for about a month and a half so far.  I can't believe how fast the time is going by; I still feel like I've just started.  It has taken a little while to build up my schedule because so much of my schedule relies on children and their families.  I was thankful to have a little prep-time to get settled and find some places that would benefit from my help.

Even though it is still the very beginning of the course, I have already had to say goodbye to a family.  They had to move back to where they are originally from for various reasons.  On our last day together we made "remembering bracelets" and "goodbye cards."  I'd only had the chance to meet with these children a few times, but saying goodbye was still difficult.  Having activities that "named" the purpose of our meeting helped me to stay present, and I think the activities helped the children understand that we were not going to see each other again.  That last meeting together was very memorable for me.  Everything about our last time together was very special and I know I won't be forgetting about this family.

This brought up the idea that, although I've only just met some wonderful children and adolescents, my time with them is very short-term.  Very soon I am going to have to plant seeds that I will be leaving in the Fall.  During the Pediatric Palliative Care Team Meeting (held bi-weekly), I mentioned that we should probably have someone lined up to continue care for the people I am currently working with.  I also have to think about what I can do for myself because leaving these great children will definitely be a loss.

Internship Organization

Internship Organization

My internship site is Cranberry Hospice and Palliative Care, located in Plymouth, MA.  It is a department of Jordan Hospital.   I work mostly with the pediatric palliative care program called Fragile Footprints, along with the bereavement groups.  As an intern, I make home visits to patients or siblings of patients receiving care from Fragile Footprints.  I do work in the office (for example, organizing care plan binders, entering survey data, making copies, etc.) and attend the Fragile Footprints team meetings, which meet bi-weekly.  I assist and facilitate programs for bereavement and pediatric palliative care families.  Because I visit homes, my schedule is not too consistent and can change frequently.

The mission statement of Cranberry Hospice is, simply put, "Cranberry Hospice will provide excellent end of life care to the community."  The values of the Cranberry Hospice and Palliative Care team are:

Patient and family focused goals and outcomes

Creative and innovative ways to help achieve our goals

Honest interactions and informed consent

Respecting patient interests and limitations

Honoring and advocating for patient and family’s dignity and needs

Committed and enthusiastic care which promotes living life to the fullest

Compassionate understanding and consistency of service

Meeting people where they are

Exceeding expectations while fostering independence

Fostering hope and courage while preparing for death

Healing bereavement services

Treating everyone, as we would have our loved ones treated

(Taken from http://www.jordanhospital.org/body.cfm?id=283) 

Personal Information

Personal Information

My name is Katie and I am a rising senior at Lesley University.  My major is in expressive arts therapy.  Some interests I have specific to internships are working directly with a population, using the arts as a way of healing, and creating a positive relationship with my site and those whom I work with.  I am excited to learn about the population I am working with.  Since this is my junior internship, I will be creating a research project for the end of the semester.