I had no idea.

In September of 2016 I had a job that I loved and left with a heavy-heart. I thoroughly enjoyed my co-workers and clients and had finally figured out how to manage all the paperwork. It was there that I had had my first encounter with someone with Borderline Personality Disorder and I remember feeling overwhelmed, lost, and caught in an endless whirlwind of “what do I do?!” Honestly, I didn’t see any chance of really figuring it all out. My supervisor at the time said, “well, looks like the universe has given you your first Borderline client.” As though this were some sort of therapist rite of passage.

Then, one day the clinic invited Dr. Diggs and his team to come speak with us about how to work with personality disorders. What he was saying had made a lot of sense to me and I started to see personality disorders in whole new light. Of course, I had had a lot of questions, but what once seemed intimidating and overwhelming became intriguing and full of possibilities.

After a few more of the in-house trainings from Dr. Diggs, Adam from Nysa Therapy, approached me to talk about the possibility of coming to work for them. Well, here it is 1-year later and if I can sum up this whole experience in one sentence it’s , “I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”

I’ve been challenged in ways that I could never have imagined. I’ve had to grow and change not just professionally, but also personally. One of the most difficult things for me to do was to get in touch with my own uncomfortable and unfamiliar emotions in order to make real and genuine connections with my patients. I have had to realize that it takes more than “just being engaged” and “in the room.” It’s taken getting in touch with parts of myself that can truly engage with people where they are to create real and meaningful change.