Not Backing Down

Not Backing Down

Hey all!

This week, read my guest blog post I wrote for the PediaPlay website created by the one and only, Deb Vilas. This blog post centers around one of my most challenging experiences working with a teenage patient I have ever experienced AND took place at a job that I dreaded.

Here is a little sample of the blog post to get you started..

“Deb may not remember this, but when I began my very first child life job I desperately reached out to her for help. The job I had been dreaming about turned out to be a job that I dreaded going to each day. I am pretty convinced that I developed a reputation on the commuter train as being “the girl that was always crying” before and after work in the city.

Within a short week of starting a one-person child life program, I quickly got the sense that child life was an unwanted and misunderstood service. The rehabilitation hospital wanted a person who would organize fun activities for the therapists to do with the patients during therapy. Staffs’ expectation was that this person would then stand off to the side—no talking, no co-treating. In their minds, child life was a party planner and recreational therapist. And if I tried to advocate and educate staff of more appropriate ways to utilize child life, then I would be at risk of being fired. On my first day as I shared ideas of how to develop the child life program, a behavioral therapist looked at me square in the eyes and said, “just do what they tell you to do. Tread lightly, Allie, or else…”

I felt intimidated. I felt overwhelmed. I felt defeated. And, I felt utterly alone.”

Click here to read the rest of the story on Deb’s PediaPlay blog!

Question to Ponder: What words of wisdom have helped you push forward when trying to connect with the “least connectable” person?

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