Gay Center Internship: Day 1

So I survived my first day of intensity. Lot to remember, lot to learn... good thing I wrote it down.

M. Dave runs a group called, "Creative Recovery." Today we made cards. There were three guys in their 20s/30s, Jay, Dan, and Chad. M. Dave was introducing the project and Chad cut in "give me the scissors." Dave stayed very calm, kept going, saying that they will get the supplies and to look through the magazines first. Chad said again, "give me scissors!" M. Dave said in a calm collected voice, "You are very chatty today, if you can continue to be disrespectful I will kick you out." Chad said, " You can do that?! You can kick me out?! What if I made myself scarce?" M. Dave paused then said, "ok." He walked out. It was no big deal and everything went on as planned. Dave handled the situation very well, he was calm and didn't let it get to him.

My main goal during this internship is to get better at handling adverse situations. When a client challenges authority or comes in in a bad head I don't want to take it personally. I need to have a internal dialogue that goes off in my mind... "it's not personal" "not you" "it's their stuff" "this is a great learning opportunity" "I'm not going to let them ruin my day" "maybe they might even brighten my day, because I will be so proud of myself if I handle it well"

I must not be too down on myself if I don't learn this skill instantly. It might come in stages so I need to relax and be confident in myself, no matter what.