1-year and ten months… 1-year and ten months. That’s how long it’s been since I have uploaded anything to my blog. Why? Fear. Yes, that nasty little four-letter word that I despise FEAR. Up until the Spring of 2017 I was focused on my educational consulting career and my psychometric work, and I Loved it; but something was gnawing at me to do more, you know that little voice or feeling in your gut that says, ‘Ok this is good, but we could do so much more.’ Yea that voice, so I started offering more recommendations for clients and studying CBT, DBT, and ABA therapies and various diagnosis, etc. and then one afternoon I was discussing therapy techniques with a provider I work with she said ‘You know, you should be a counselor.’ Ding! Ding! Ding! There it was! That was it! Being a counselor would be my MORE! At first, I was excited and eager to start, and I shared my excitement with another college, and the response I received was surprising she actually asked me, ‘Why would you want to go back to school at your age? You would be the oldest in the class. Do you think you can keep up with your career and school? I don’t know, you may want to think about it.’ That put me in a slump, and my own negative talk started. How foolish I was to think I could go back to school and be a counselor. How silly of me to think that I had something more to offer. For months I kept pushing the consideration away, and every time I would push the possibility out of my mind, someone would cross my path and say ‘Hey, you should be a counselor,’ or I would receive information in the mail about counseling, or something would come across my desk about counseling opportunities. I may have tried to say no, but the universe was saying ‘Hey! What are you waiting for?’ And the more information that was brought to me, the more that little voice inside of me grew and more excited I became. I spent the summer of 2017 researching schools and programs and meeting with the LPSCA of Georgia, and then finally I quieten the negative talk by responding ‘I will never know until I try.’ I took my first class fall of 2017, I will take one of my last classes this summer, and my 10-month internship will begin this fall. I didn’t share this journey with a lot of people. I kept it to myself; it was precious to me. I saw it as a young, fragile child and I didn’t want anyone to question it, or laugh at it, so I held it close I nurtured it, I strengthened it, and I gave it life until it was strong enough to resist the nay-sayers, the haters, and I’ve watched it blossom. And now it’s about to take off, and I am terrified. All I keep thinking is, have I learned enough? Have I studied enough? Have I read enough? On January 2nd I started working on my theory, and in my panic, I have purchased over 15 books in the last three weeks alone. I have a whiteboard to cover every topic and focus on my specialty. It’s taken me 18 months of sleepless nights, missed outings with friends and family, numerous papers, presentations, and exams, and in six more months, I will be able to apply everything I have learned to help others heal. I love psychometric work I truly do, but I hated letting my clients go. After spending a few days with them and seeing the anxiety and depression or learning challenges I just wanted to start giving them the tools they needed to lift them up and help them find their voice and to be proud of themselves and their uniqueness. In just six more months I will be able to do that, and for that, I feel thoroughly blessed, grateful, and humbled. So thank you for waiting, thank you for reading, and thank you for your support. From this day forward my post will be to help you recognize your habit and challenges and overcome them. My job will be to help you accept yourself and relish in your uniqueness, and my commitment will be never to stop learning and growing so I can be a better person for you.
#embraceyouruniqueness
#findyourvoice
#betruetoyourself
#followyourownpath
Lei Rhyne, LPC, NCC, CHt 