Volunteering has always been so important to me, and I think, as a social worker, when I went into private practice, I still really wanted to be of service. And unfortunately, working in agencies just wasn't working really well for me. And so the ability to be able to have my own practice and then get to serve the populations that I went to school for has been really, really wonderful for me to do that.

Absolutely, it absolutely does.

I think that I would relay how much it's fulfilled me. I think I would tell them how glad I am that I did it, that I wasn't totally sure and then I saw it, and was like, “I think that this is a great opportunity!” And I think I would just encourage them to, you know, to try and see how it goes. But it's been so enriching, and I would think it would be the same for them.

And wonderful. It's been wonderful.

That's a really good question, one I haven't really thought of very much. I think it probably depends on you know the age and the particular background of the person that you're working with, but I think maybe what I have found surprising is how different this therapy experience is from the therapy that I do in my practice in the sense that sometimes it's about helping someone who hasn't had the benefit of the upbringing that I have had, or the schooling that I have had. Sometimes it's about things that are a little bit outside of what we think of as the “therapy bucket.”. Sometimes it's about helping someone with life skills. You know, talking about finances, talking about career. And I think, I think for me, that was kind of surprising to see that it could be a much larger support. And I think, seeing what a much larger support the organization offers to clients.

Right? Yeah.. And I just want to add to that – I think being able to think just a little bit larger, and to sometimes put aside the goals as a therapist that I have, or the kind of maybe more siloed thinking of, “We need to do trauma work here.” But instead to say, “Wait a minute.” This person needs to find better housing, and they need to paint their bedroom, and they need to organize. And maybe we need to just write or talk about those things, or they're having financial issues and maybe helping them around talking about credit and these things. And I think that that's been really enriching, I think, for both of us.

I've just really enjoyed the connection with the client that I’m working with. This is someone again who just has a very different background, who has a really just, wonderful, vibrant energy. Someone that I would not have gotten the opportunity to work with in the practice that I do. And I think there's a connection – I mean, I think there's often a strong connection. But I think this one just feels really special, and I think I've just really really appreciated that. And I feel like I'm still very new – there's so much that I haven't gotten a chance to take advantage of that I'm looking forward to still. Things like joining consultation groups and doing more continuing education. I was really impressed with how many of those kinds of things are available, and how much support is available. And so I still feel very new, and have only just sort of grazed the surface of what is available. But I imagine as I also work with different clients for whom maybe I’ll need to get more support, I think I'll be using some of those things more.

It can be challenging, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And I have to say, I was really impressed with all the resources that are available and how welcoming and kind all of the different volunteers have been. It really has been really wonderful.

Yeah, that's a good question. I feel like I’ve maybe answered in little ways as we've kind of been going along. I think that the reason that I've always done volunteer work is to be able to get outside of my experience. And I think it has a really big impact. I've worked with one client so far, and I'm continuing to work with them. But I would say just learning more about their experience. I really didn't know very much about foster care, and I am working with an adult – so someone who is not currently in it – but to really hear the impact that it's had on her life, and to really start to understand how much other people have gone through, I think it just helps me think about how much more I can be supportive and how much more I can understand and have gratitude for what I had, but also to feel that responsibility to to help more. I think that impact is really having me take a larger look at how much more I can do, and how much more I want to be involved, and how important that is. I think the work that I've done as a social worker and the volunteer work that I've done has really helped me to just see life in a larger way, get outside of my own experience and have more empathy and have more compassion for people who did not have the benefit of having a stable early life.

I mean, I actually just want to say I'm just really, really, – no one's paying me [to say this], right! – I'm just super impressed with the way this organization works. [I’ve done] volunteering before and working in nonprofit agencies and seeing the challenges that they have – and I'm sure there are things that I don't see – but just to say I'm super impressed with how wonderful everyone that I've connected with has been, responsive and kind. And you know I've just been super impressed with all of the people in the field who offer these continuing education courses. And I've just been impressed with how well it's run. I just want to say that it's really been a pleasure to do this, and I'm excited to continue and hopefully to get more involved as time goes on.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, thank you so much. Alright.

You too. Bye!