Life I Went to College

¶ … Life

I went to college at LaSalle University, and I wanted to help others. It seemed corny, even to me, but I wanted to be that person who people could always turn to. It started when my brother went to rehab for a chemical dependency problem. I wasn't sure how to react. I was angry, of course, but my heart was breaking, as well. He looked so sickly when he left home and I kept thinking I should have seen what was happening to him. I should have been able to do something to help him. When I went to visit him, it became very apparent that he wasn't the only one suffering with addictions and problems like mental disorders. I had to help him -- and I had to help the rest of them. It became my passion, because it was born out of something that was very personal to me and that I could relate to. I turned to nursing, because it felt like the right way to go about my goal, and I started my career at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut as a Psychiatric Technician.

After several years of working with inpatients ranging from adolescents, dual-diagnosis patients, and intensive care patients, I transitioned to a Discharge Case Manager. I spent nine years there, and transitioned again -- this time to a Residential Counselor. At that time I assisted in the creation of a transitional house for people with persistent psychiatric disorders. It provided different types of therapy, so a wider range of people could be treated. I'm now DBT and Cognitive Remediation certified and I've helped so many people who really needed someone to care for them.