Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Life Change Recovery Center internship

    This post is a glimpse/teaser of what I've written to my paper about my clinical internship at LCRC. And, and, and, I made it quite informal/casual para it's still suitable to the tone of my blog. Leggo! :)

Life Change Recovery Center (LCRC) is a non-government rehabilitation center that caters up to 30 patients. The clinic offers different programs and length depending upon the case of the individual. LCRC is led by the renowned celebrity Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Dr. Randy Dellosa.
     The clinic is not the usual place we picture when we talk about a rehabilitation center. It’s just a house with special facilities to accommodate the housemates. Homey dito, guys.

First day. Just like many other first timers, I felt nervous and scared. To work in a rehabilitation clinic is a no joke. Good thing I was able to cope up because I’m with Jasmine and Ruby to spend 100 hours with.
We just waited and waited the whole morning for our supervisor’s instruction and experienced what they called “sauna”. By afternoon, he tasked us to design the boards for Ledesma Week. Ledesma Week is being celebrated annually in honor of the late Dr. Ledesma who founded LCRC. Ruby, Jasmine and I pulled out our artsy fartsy side for the whole week to be able to finish our task. Believe me, I buried down my artistic side already so thank God I had two buddies to work with. We did the boards for almost 3 days, I think. We weren’t allowed yet to interact to the housemates inside because we still haven’t had our orientation. 

     As a student, I am used to being occupied and overwhelmed with tons of school requirements. Paper here and there, deadlines, shitty stuffs and I know if you're a college student or been a college student you know what I mean. But in LCRC, I learned how to wait. Waiting isn’t always about wasting. One thing I learned was that waiting is also a virtue to be gained.

Ledesma Week. This week was celebrated to remember the founder of the organization. Also during this week, LCRC looked back and recalled some of the Filipino values. Various activities to enhance different values run throughout the week. "Larong Pinoy" something like that.

The module facilitated by Gladys was super fun. I saw from everyone’s faces that they all enjoyed. The housemates often had activities outdoors therefore, their excitement added to the fun atmosphere. Nobody cared about the burning afternoon that time. Everyone just had fun under the sun. We got the chance to talk and laugh with them. Too bad I wasn’t able to be part of any games because I’m not feeling well so I became the official photographer of the day.

     Gladys had her module outdoors so even we haven't had our orientation yet; we got to interact already with the housemates. My fears disappeared. Indeed, I am very wrong to judge before knowing them but I guess fear was just a part because I didn’t know what to expect. AGREE?!

End of Ledesma week. We went inside (activity area) to redecorate the stage for the closing of Ledesma Week. 

With Ma'am Agnes and Sir Eli.

Co-interns from Holy Angels, CEFI and Ateneo. Dami namin noh?
     Closing program of Ledesma Week. We (MC students) with Chris (Ateneo student) presented the audio visual presentation we created. The video contained all the activities happened during the whole week.

The program flowed well. I ended it with a prayer. I am not a very religious and prayerful person but I tried my very best to give them a meaningful prayer to encourage them somehow(?).
     Module. Before we started with our clinical internship, our supervisor cleared to us that we won’t graduate until we facilitate a module. It was a requirement because he would base our grade with the activities and how we'll facilitate it.

Jasmine facilitated first.

Ruby on second day.
      For me, my module went well. I did my best to deliver it despite the problem with my throat and jaw. Though, the puzzle game was quiet boring. Too bad I wasn’t able to do my ‘open the basket game with a twist’ because of the lack of time.
There were no pictures when I facilitated. I WONDER WHY.
   I appreciated all Dr. Aguila taught us back in Group Dynamics.

Graduation. Our graduation was prepared by students from U.P. and the housemates. I’m not used to sit there and watch them perform for us. During our graduation, we had an activity wherein we got the chance to ask the housemates to write messages on the illustration behind our back. I asked most of the housemates to write something for me.
   When reading their messages, I felt very important and appreciated. I never imagined in that short span of time, I did something that they appreciated.

Of course in every place and experiences, there were pros and cons and positive sides and negative sides. Here are the reasons why I recommend LCRC as an intership site. Let's not include to this post the negatives.
1.      1. The housemates were very cooperative. Most housemates joined every activity. They may had different reasons for joining, but still, I’m thankful for their cooperation. Also, they really did share insights when you call them for processing.
2.      2. Because they accept bulk students from one school, being “out of place” can be abolished.
3.    3.   They have materials for activities or we can ask to buy. No need to spend own money.
The whole experience was a worth it. I got to gain new friends. I learned a lot from the housemates. Most of them were professionals so I got some advice on life. 
Photo flood in 3..2...1.
Grabe natiis naming hindi maging vain (without sarcasm).
And yeah, we met the next batch of interns from San Beda and cute crazy students of University of the Philippines.

If you, YOU, reading this post is planning to have an internship at LCRC, I hope this helps with your decision. Before I went to LCRC I did my research first and read a number of blogs as well. Do the same to be prepared!

These were few things I wrote on my paper. Other stuff I wrote kasi was confidential na. 

 @CLARElesswhispr