YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Hey there,I
My name is Joshua and I have been listening to this podcast for a few weeks now. I'm a homebased therapist which means that I actually travel to the client's homes to provide services. I spend a lot of time in my car so I am always trying to listen to interesting things and I came across this podcast. Needless to say, I have really enjoyed it and found it pretty insightful in hearing about "the battles in our minds."
In terms of my practice, my speciality is the fun stuff (abuse, severe maltreatment, domestic violence, etc.). Please excuse my dark humor. I understand trauma is not actually fun, but I use humor as a coping mechanism. I truly enjoy working with kiddos who have survived trauma and being able to help explore and process the deepest, darkest depths of human existence at such a vulnerable stage of development.
I decided to join this forum to be more of a participant rather than just an observer. This is a beautiful outlet to help those in need and provide excellent support for the mental health community. Also, I noticed that there really has not been much of a focus on both ends of the spectrum in development. Well, maybe it has been covered and I am just late to the party. Either way, I just wanted to join the community and say hi.

Thanks for your time,
Joshua

Welcome, Joshua! So happy that you're here with us. Your job sounds fascinating.

Thanks! It is pretty fascinating. I have a love/hate relationship with it though. I love what I do and making an impact in my community. But I hate the fact that there is a need for my services. Sometimes I wish that my agency just told me "go home. There's no more children who experience trauma anymore. We solved the problem." I would happy to be fired if that was the case. I would be able to find another way to make a living. But sadly, that is not the case and I will be there to serve and help others.

Also, I am kind of struggling with how much professional information I should reveal about myself. Confidentiality is a huge concern for me and I want to extremely respect my clients' privacy. Also, I am contracted out with the Department of Child Services (DCS) and Juvenile Probation. So my colleagues and I have dealt with some high-profile cases. However, after reading about the skepticism of Dr. Ginger Peterson, I feel the need to prove myself, but I don't want to overstep my bounds. I will err on the side of caution. So my apologies in advance if I am vague on some personal/professional information.