Gratitude Lists

I finished one week of Child Psych.

So far, I’m having a really hard time wrapping my head around psychiatry. So much of it seems…subjective? Or at least to the point that I don’t have enough knowledge yet to recognize the true diagnostic process. I feel pretty comfortable interviewing medical patients and trying to understand their problem. But in psychiatry, it is not as straight forward. Some of the psychiatrist I work with are incredible at knowing the exact right question to ask to get the exact answer they are looking for. They also have a beautiful way of sneaking in some psychotherapy into the interview- its totally at another level. I wonder how my understanding with change throughout the next 5 weeks.

I thought I may be interested in Child Psych as a career based on my perception of it via Child Neuro clinic. After one week, I’m not really loving it as a career (to be fair, a partial hospitalization program is much different than an outpatient practice). For me, it lacks the concrete, scientific approach that I think my brain feels more comfortable with. I also can’t imagine carrying the stories home with me week after week. I think it would really get to me emotionally. I think it’s safe to say I can cross psych off the list, now I just have to make it through the next 5 weeks and get out of it what I can.

One interesting aspect of this rotation is a mini-neuropsychology course. We have 4 lectures and one morning in a neuropsych testing clinic. It’s amazing how identifying a person’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of memory, executive functioning, and visuospatial abilities can help diagnose, localize, and determine the prognosis of specific problems. I am looking forward to my morning in the clinic.

A huge upside of psych rotation are the hours. 8-5. Like a normal person! It’s glorious!! Switching to OB/GYN next will be a painful adjustment for me.

On Friday, we had the kids write a gratitude list during a group therapy session. I am not one to preach, but making a gratitude list before bed everyday has been proven to increase happiness. Most often, the simple thinks in life can be overlooked, and recognizing them can be a powerful step to getting out of whatever funk you may be in. Here are some things I was grateful for this weekend: