Ok, So the truth is we have had a little something, something brewing that we have been keeping under wraps lately….
We did it.
Hilton Harbor Therapy is REAL and I officially own my own private practice!
I say we did it because honestly I’m not sure if i ever would have pursued it if it weren’t for Alex and even if I had pursued it I had no idea how to make it happen….
Not only did he encourage, push me and repeatedly ask me to start my own practice but when I came home one day in late April and purposed an idea… “What if I turn in my notice, take the summer off of work to be with Lola and study for the LCSW exam and then I can focus on building my own private practice”.
His response “Sounds good”.
He has bought and read books on it, he researched the insurance/medicaid requirement and licenses, he bought the domain less than 24 hours after I decided on a name and reached out to several other LCSWs and SW websites for tips and help along the way! A side form this he built and designed my website and we are SO very proud of it!
I had no idea how hard and time consuming it all would be but it has been one of the longest and hardest things ever!
Needless to say 100% of it all was done during an hour or two a day during Lola’s nap and we were lucky if we got an hour done at night before bed…. and yes EVERYTHING else got put on the back burner in our lives pretty much!
Lou spent a countless number of hours starring at screens like this after coming home from work where he starred (I assume) at other screens like this all day!
Bless him..
For me it was forms after forms, codes and numbers galore… lets not forget dealing with government agencies for good ol’ Medicaid!
Which includes being on hold a countless number of times for a record of 1 hour and 27 minutes!
Thankfully I was able to stay in touch with the schools I was practicing at through Cobb County and they are willing to have me back as a private practice so that has been an extra blessing!
Hilton Harbor is now on Cobb’s Coalition for Prevention Board so that I can continue to return to serve children in Cobb County schools!
The good news is that less than 24 hours after we launched I got an email requesting to make some referrals to me for group counseling!
WOOHOOO!
It’s weird knowing I was so close to just brushing it off and thinking it’s something I would do later in life…when I had time but then you realize how much you push off and when you think about it… Life is just passing by faster and faster.
It seems very clear that this is what I was supposed to do and I have told the story a hundred times about when I was little (Like brand new to elementary school little) when I decided I wanted to be a counselor… I wanted a big office where I had my own secretary and I could have a button where I could buzz people in… they would sit on the couch and tell me all about their problems and I would fix them
Sounds simple huh…. Well the life of a Social Worker and counselor has not quite been that glamorous… it’s anything but actually.
You get paid skittles and work hard… like really hard with often times no breaks.
My first three years after grad school I worked in residential where their were no breaks, sometimes no running water and a constant roach infestation. My char for my desk hat I sat in everyday for those three years was a chair I found at the apartment complex (that we worked out of) dumpster.
On top of that, the clients were difficult, really difficult..they were withdrawing, they were manipulative, they had trust issues and they had bad tempers…
I left each day thinking that would be the saddest most traumatic story I could ever hear and the next day I would go back and hear a worse story.
Whenever I am asked why this job…. I am usually left fumbling on my words. It’s not something I consciously strive for or hope to be or have… Most of the time I don’t even feel like I chose it.
It chose me.
It’s something you just do because your born with it and you never ever question it, you just do.
It seems like just yesterday I started fresh out of grad school not having a clue as to what to expect and now with my own practice I feel parts of that again…
For now we are just going to take a big WHEW for how far we have made it and be glad for where we are now!
It’s real and it’s out there!
Here’s the website link below for our website:
In other news…. something else has sort of fallen in my lap (literally) the last month and I could not be more excited about it!
The same day we launched the website was also my first day of orientation at CHOA!
Oh yes! This is really happening too!
(My cheerleader)
I honestly couldn’t have planned it better if i tried…. I was chatting with my old colleague from Grady days who I had not spoken to since I was pregnant with Lola and somehow we started talking about me doing PRN (picking up shifts randomly –when you want) Social work at a hospital… she mentioned her old supervisor was looking for someone to do weekend positions and told me to contact her… I did and it went well so I went in to meet her just for a chat.
She pushed me through to the head supervisor who asked me to come in the SAME week for an official interview… It was for a weekend position which I did not even want but as Lou says we always keep our options open so I went just to see how it would go…
While there everything went well until she asked me “so what makes you want to do weekends”… I couldn’t lie… I told her I didn’t actually want weekends…
She kindly informed me “Oh we are actually looking to hire a PRN social worker we just haven’t posted it yet.. would you like us to slate you for that instead?”
I’m telling you I cant make this stuff up!
The day we got home from Ireland I was officially offered the job for PRN and can do as many or as little amount of shifts that I want!
Seems like the perfect fit for our little family and the private practice portion of it all! Not to mention I am panning on doing evening from about 5pm-midnight so Lola won’t need a nanny or need to go to childcare!
(She even came with me to my HR appointment- below)
I knew new things were in store with us and this new venture of opening up our own private practice but I am constantly amazed at how just when I think I have something planned perfectly I get surprised with icing on top!
I officially started last Monday and the first week has just been orientation but it is such a PLESANT place to work and they truly value their employees! I will be at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite location in all units and am SO very excited for what’s to come!
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