Monday, September 27, 2004

last day of the Intensive Outpatient Program...

i graduated this morning - no more of that 3 hours a day, 3 days a week minimum group therapy stuff for me! i'm not cured or anything, but i know i've learned a lot more about myself and others and some valuable coping skills that i didn't have before. i hate goodbyes, but i know it's for the best, and it probably should've been done sooner.

there's a bit of a ritual when someone leaves the program - charles has this basket of stones...the graduate picks out a stone that grabs their attention and it gets passed around the room, each person taking a moment to say something about their experience with the graduate or whatever...meanwhile, the graduate has to remain silent - just shut up and take it...ugh, i can't take a compliment to save my life...it's always interesting to see what people see about other people, what sorts of things make impressions on people...then, after everyone's talked, turnabout's fair play and the graduate has this stone with all these good vibes put into it and can say whatever she/he wants to say. i was just left sort of speechless.

onto the next chapter...

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