(no subject)

[snogged]

I have an interview on Thursday with Catholic Charities for a part-time (up to 28 hours a week) position in my field that would permit me to do group work with children, adolescents, and parents.

It's not quite as close drive-wise as the Pauquette position and with gas prices going up that could be a little tricky, but I'll deal with it.

I'm starting to think the emo gods were listening yesterday....

ETA: It's going to be a phone interview.

Comments

[shakensilence.livejournal.com]

So far... boring... I'm supposed to be a case manager and they have me filing crap. I should have done a bad job at it or something so they wouldn't continue having me do that but I'm a perfectionist when it comes to things like that so everything has been done efficiently and properly and faster than the woman whose job it is to actually do that can do it, so I think they aren't going to have me doing anything with the clients until all the paperwork is put away properly. I swear nothing has been filed since September of last year. I just got through the Rs... It shouldn't take me much longer to get through the rest of it.

They have me working at all kinds of different hours though, "just in case". I guess they want someone else on hand that can drive the company vans in case of an emergency. That's the one office.

The other office isn't letting me do anything either though. Over there, I'm answering phones.

If I wanted to be a secretary I would have applied for a secretarial position. I've been a secretary in the past... the work doesn't bother me per say... it just isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. I should be meeting clients and doing WRAPs. I should be being a case manager. I don't know why they aren't letting me. I'm really good at being a case manager.

And the thing that rubs me the wrong way is that there is someone else who started the same day as me and she's already meeting clients on her own.

End bitch fest. Sorry about that. I'm just frustrated.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

Have you spoken to your supervisor about it?

[shakensilence.livejournal.com]

Everyday I ask them (I have two of them) when I'm going to be seeing clients and I keep getting vague answers about the changeover we're going through soon from paper to computer files and that taking up everyone's time.

And don't get me wrong... I don't mind helping out getting the papers in order. I just don't think it should be all I'm doing.

As for the phones, I'm told that that is their way of introducing the clients to me slowly since the clients have a hard time adjusting. This strikes me as BS because these are the types of clients that usually have a lot of upheaval in their lives and have to adjust to major changes in their lives all the time. A staff change shouldn't be that big of a deal. When I worked on my last CTT not one of the clients seemed to be shocked at my arrival and I was welcomed into their lives with almost a sense of relief because I was the person they could relate to. I'm the person who knows what it is like to be them.

What I really think is going on is that my supervisors are worried because I am like the clients in a way and they don't want to overwhelm me and I don't know how to assure them that I can handle just about anything they can throw at me because I've done it all before.

I've had the talk with both supervisors that I'm stable and my medications have been the same for years with no sign of changing anytime soon and that my PTSD has been in check for months. So long as they let me go to my therapy sessions everything else with work shouldn't be a problem. I even gave them both copies of my Work WRAP just so they would know what I'm like if I'm getting symptomatic and things are becoming a problem. I've tried to paint a pretty clear picture that I'm not so different than the other case managers. I just need a little extra maintenance that I take care of all on my own. I even mentioned a few times that I don't really like being treated differently unless I'm in crisis and there is no choice but to treat me differently. You would think as professionals they would be better about this.

And I thought my last CTT was bad about this kind of thing. All it is is Stigma and bigotry. Like just because I have mental health issues I can't handle things.

I'm to the point of having them call my friend and old "boss" Mike. I worked with him on this volunteer program called the Youth Outreach Union and all the kids that came to those meetings (that I ran) were so comfortable with me that I was the first person they thought to call in an emergency. You have no idea how many crisis calls I oversaw and coordinated with other services and held people's hands through all different kinds of processes. I'm more than capable of handling what happens on an ACT team. (The clients are a little less severe than my old CTT clients.)

I just don't know how to prove to them that I can do my job if they won't let me do my job.

I just keep reminding myself that I've only been there for a little over a week. It has to get better.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

It will get better.

Until then, work your ass off on the projects they have assigned to you and prove that you're the best thing to ever happen to them.

[shakensilence.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

Thanks sweetie!!!! I'll do just that!