This week I started my placement and feel overwhelmed about the amount of reading I have to do and the fact that I’ve only completed one reflective art-making session, as well as an ongoing anxiety about actually meeting the patients, clients, service-users or whatever I am meant to call the people I’m working with. However, the 200-page document I was sent on experiences of psychosis is so far very refreshing to read.
As part of my placement, I had my ID checked and had “Breakaway” training, which involves a set of skills to employ if ever physically attacked on placement, which I had almost forgotten by that evening. I still have Emergency Life Support Training coming up, so it will be a while before I have two full placement days.
At university, we got to watch a recent interview with Patrick Casement, whose book ‘On Learning from the Patient’ I had just finished reading over the summer. This was really fascinating. That evening I also had the SNAYX gig, which was fun even though I went alone. The support act Bobby Wolfgang was great, and it was exciting to see them join forces for a Prodigy cover.
I’m looking forward to a weekend with time to get on top of things after a busy week, with too many commitments, including a visitor from Istanbul who treated us to a local Michelin-star restaurant called Babur, and She Grrrowls last night. Saying that, it’s been hard not to stress about my current financial strain, especially with the uncertainty of Universal Credit, who keep changing my appointment to times I can’t do.
So, the time I’ve had, I’ve spent applying for any kind of grant I can find. On one hand, I’m scared I won’t be able to have enough money from UC, and on the other I’m scared I won’t have enough time to study. There’s only so much I can do in terms of work, so I am really feeling the need to spend more time reading and getting a head start on assignments.
Watching: Nobody Wants This, The Simpsons, Phil Wang (stand up)
Reading: Suffering Insanity by R.D. Hinshelwood, The Complete Short Stories by Saki, Different Kinds of Love by Michel Rosen (audiobook)
Podcasts: Sleepy
Music: SNAYX, Bobby Wolfgang, Bonobo
Again, if you’re able to share or donate to my crowdfund as I train to become an Art Psychotherapist, or buy some books, please do!
Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer. 