In the article “Staying Cool Under Pressure” it talks about how our bodies respond to outside stress factors. It was interesting to read that our bodies at a cellular level are reacting to what is happening to us in our environment. I didn’t honestly understand half of what they were talking about but it was an interesting read.
I know I’m behind in this assignment but I read this article after my class with you on Thursday. It got me thinking about my own case loads and how I was reacting to them. Friday after my component and all staff meetings I sat down and looked at four of my families files and took fresh notes and in two cases did a drive by their homes just to get a visual of their neighborhood. I made lists of strengths and areas for growth for the families. I then really focused on myself and how I felt about the families and situations of each. Two of the families I felt good about the plan I already had in place and acknowledged the progress they had achieved. I was still seeing both of these families in crisis when I should have stopped to see where they had started and where they were now.
As I was looking and organizing my notes and thoughts on the third family I felt my stomach kind of clinch a little and my jaw tighten. I physically felt the effects of thinking about this family. I actually put the file away and sat for a while trying to clear my head. What I came away with is that I could see myself in the mom, how I would be in life if I hadn’t been intentional in my actions when I became a single mother. What I didn’t want for my children and myself was my focus to not let happen. The mom is at a place where it is more comfortable to stay with what you know than to take a chance and try something that will change how you live and think. The clinch in taking a chance is there is no guarantee that your life will be better than what you live with now.
I called the mom and said I needed her to do a visit and I met her at her...