Abel Diaz

I facilitate group discussions with the clients I work with at the group home. I met with the clients on a weekly basis. These discussions are centered on the clients discussing how topics such as their values, triggers, vulnerabilities, how they perceive themselves relate to them struggling with their mental health and/or abusing substances. In addition, during these discussions, I also have the clients discuss topics that are more oriented on them making changes that could help with their mental health and substance abuse struggles. Such as ways to cultivate inner peace, what they view as roadblocks to recovery and how to mitigate social situations that lead to them dealing with poor mental health and/or difficulties with abstaining from abusing substances. Working with populations as volatile and challenging as group home youth, my job during these group discussions is not to impart advise or wisdom to them since many have not made the necessary to progress to be ready to apply such advice/wisdom. My responsibility is to just to be an active listener and reflect upon their answers and attempt to guide them to their own self-discoveries.

As a biller, I am instructed to document the services which I provide to my clients. The services have to be centered on addressing the lingering behavioral or mental health problems the clients are currently suffering from. These services are shown through notes which I bill to medi-cal.

The notes which I write vary in times of length however I have never had any issues with meeting deadlines. It is instrument that notes are submitted timely since a large part of the funds, the program depends on comes from billing. Moreover, regardless of my responsibilities as a biller which I am asked to fulfill on a day-to-day basis, I still have to fulfill my responsibilities as a therapeutic counselor daily as well.

Simultaneously, having to manage both these responsibilities have allowed me to learn how to use my time wisely, be able to multitask, be organized and learn how to set realistic goals that are conscientious of my job responsibilities.

In addition, the billing notes which I write are important because they are representative of the program I work at and of the quality of care the program offers the clients. Hence, I try to always write notes that uphold this fact and also notes that reflect the the program's mission and goals.

I have been working as a therapeutic counselor for over three years at a group home program. The clients that I work with are of high risk with many suffering from behavioral and psychological problems.

In order to be an effective counselor, I have had have to continuously worked on my ability to be attune to the needs of the clients. Through experience, I have learned the ability to read cues whether verbal or nonverbal to sense how the clients are potentially feeling or thinking of doing.

My job responsibilities vary extensively. At times, I have to fill a parent role by having to take clients to the doctor for a check-up to dropping off the clients at school to prompting the youth to do their routines. Then, other times, I had to fill a mentor role and try to impart advice and knowledge to the clients. Other times, I have to fill a more clinician like role when the clients are emotionally dysregulated and threatening to awol, cause property destruction, assault staff or peers, or engage in self-harm. In these times of emotional crisis, I attempt to use active listening, reflection, validation, conflict resolution to try to help the clients deescalate and come down to baseline behavior.