Michelle Wade

Ahh….the most beautiful word in the English language…vacation. For professionals who deal day in and day out with the stress of clients and billing and assessments and our own personal stress, vacations are those moments when we can just take a moment and breathe. Some of you may have noticed that I myself have been a bit sluggish in my blogs as well as the timing of them. I’d blame it on comps and clients and what not, but honestly it all boils down to I just was tired and worn out.

I was called in to meet with the psychiatrist with one of my clients the other day and we were discussing her symptomology. I had done the assessment on this client, and because Medicaid wants a diagnosis pretty much minute one, I had given her the diagnosis of major depressive disorder. First off, let me say that I did so because I think it was the least restrictive one I could have given her. Secondly, I could probably write an entire blog about my feelings about Medicaid and the way it runs, but that is a battle for another day. Anyway, when I got into the room with the psychiatrist and all three of us started talking, it was very clear that the client exhibited much more bipolar II symptomology rather than atypical depression. What I had considered as triggers for bad behaviors were indeed triggers, but they were more than likely triggers for her manic episodes. It was important to make the right distinction because medication choice relies heavily on whether or not she is depressed versus bipolar. So, I was incredibly thankful that the psychiatrist had caught the things I missed.

As a doctoral student, I find myself subconsciously always asking myself; will that look good on my CV? I have been rather strategic in how I did my whole doctoral program and choosing who to work with and what topic to focus on and the underlying factor has always been the goal of 5-10 years in the future. But as I sit here on the eve of my comprehensive exams, the step before changing from just a doctoral student to doctoral candidate, I find that the question I am asking myself now is “am I the professional that I desire to be and if not how do I get there?”

I have spent the last almost 7 years as an in home counselor. What this means is that I meet my clients within their home environments and conduct therapy there. In other words, I get a peek into daily lives and living situations for my clients. And they get to see me in a little less “stuffy” of a role than what they thought counseling was about. To be honest, I am not sure either of those things is good or bad, it really comes down to the situation/client itself.

With the application deadline for the Ethics Revision Task Force approaching, I can’t help but wonder where to go with the new ethical code with regards to technology and counseling. As is pretty obvious from my blogs, I am passionate about using technology in counseling. And I think we can all agree that unfortunately section A.12 of the current Code of Ethics just is not up to par with current technology.