Robbin Miller

In the middle of August this year, I had surgery that required me to take a few weeks off from work with restrictions from physical activities. I came to grips that surgery was necessary so I can enjoy living a quality of life that was fulfilling and not living in pain. My surgery was a success in that I did not lose any blood and obtain a nasty infection that is, unfortunately, a reality in staying overnight in hospitals across the world. For two weeks, I took care of myself by resting a lot and doing very little from my normal routines.

I am glad to be back as a blog writer for ACA. I am writing about my work as a volunteer advocate for a grassroots group I belong to in my neck of the woods. The name of my group is REDD (Rights, Equality for the Dignity of the Disabled). REDD’s mission is to promote the civil rights for persons with disabilities. Members can be individuals with/out disabilities who want to get involved. For the past year, REDD is working with several members called Self-Advocates who belong to an organization for individuals with developmental disabilities. I invited a few of them to a REDD meeting in December 2012 to talk about their issues with the local transportation system.

1) Locate an office site so you can start the process of applying for insurance panels. Whether you use your home or pay rent for space, all health insurance providers need your address to start the ball rolling. If you just want to do private pay, you still need an office location to start your marketing plan and networking with others.

Dr. Wayne Dyer, notable Psychologist and author of many best seller books, talks about this notion in several of his writings on finding inner wisdom and peace as a human being. When I think of these two terms and how they apply to our profession, I believe they may be two opposing forces facing us as counselors. I went into the profession in 1989 to serve my clients and to make a difference in their lives. I was always interested as a young child on “what makes people tick” as I read many books on Psychology during my teenage years.

I am now a trained mediator for community mediation issues such as small claims and for parent-child disputes. I participated in a long and intense thirty hour training at my current place of employment. One day a month for a year, I will be spending my afternoon in court to see if any parties are interested in having their cases mediated or being heard in front of a judge. The time commitment is due to having the costs waived for this mediation training.