First Time

Our first session...man, you can try to be prepared but there's nothing like going to a place for the first time. I was lucky because I just happened to choose my location for my support group. I was able to visit the house and meet a lot of people that night. The next day our lab group went and I got a real first hands on experience with the group. Then, was our first session. And it was pretty amazing. By this, the third time going, I kind of thought I knew what was about to happen, but I knew nothing. Really dividing into a group with these individuals and talking to them and listening to them is something. I was really nervous at first, working with these residents, and then being watched by our group members, teacher, and the recreational therapist. It felt like we were able to be judged with how we interacted. The environment quickly calmed me down and I was able to relax. My group members are great and I'm pretty sure they were just as nervous as I was, so we all had each other to look too during our session. The client's really enjoyed seeing ms G and joked around and talked with her. The rec. therapist was awesome and was really relaxed and answered any questions or helped us out when we seemed to get stuck or not know what to do. Our first session we just wanted to get to know each other, so it was a lot of questions being asked while we sat in a circle. Some of the answers we expected, such as where would you go if you could go anywhere? and the answer was, "the beach." But a lot of stuff caught us by surprise too. We had to learn about the individuals and where to draw the line as well. There were certain points we had to cut some off and times we couldn't react to others, and sometimes we HAD to react before they felt ignored. I was worried that we might bring up situations or questions that would have an adverse affect on the residents and we would make them sad/mad. We spent the whole session laughing and joking around! I'm pretty sure one of the most meaningful/shocking responses to me was when, and no idea how the subject came up, one of the guys started thanking god just to be alive and thanking 'him' for everything. Then others joined in and were like "yes, thank you lord for letting me still be here." That just blows my mind. Im pretty sure I would be a bit resentful and probably pissed if I was put into their situation. It's amazing to know how they feel after everything they've been through. They truly are fun to be around and I look forward to the rest of our sessions together.