Joshua D. Cooke

As I embarked on the beginnings of my career as a mental health and substance abuse counselor I had a pretty good idea about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to help.  The long and short of it is that it didn't matter to me who my clients were as long as they were adults.  No teenagers, and no children.  I would leave that population to someone else.  After hearing some of the experiences of my graduate school cohort members and co-workers during my internship site, I felt like my choice to work with only adults was reinforced. Alas, opportunity knocked, and I had to answer the call.  I was given the opportunity to run the adolescent program at my work site, and I jumped at the chance.  I admit that my intentions were slightly selfish.  Graduation was only months away, and I needed to have some beginnings of a way to support my family.  At the same time, I dove into the position with plenty of ideas and grand intentions to make big changes....

When I started this blog nearly two years ago, my initial purpose was to create a space where I could both share my thoughts and also provide readers with some understanding about the direction I had decided to take with my writing projects.  I will be the first to admit that I have not been at all consistent in posting, and there has been much that has changed in my life in terms of priorities and circumstances since I began this blog. I haven't been particularly consistent with my writing projects either, which made it difficult for me to make any firm commitments there. The reality is, I have not allowed myself the time or the space to be consistent, and as such my entries have been rather bare. Then there is the question of boundaries. How much do I really want to share? What do I want out there forever? Once I post it, it's not going away. What do I keep to myself and what do I want to share with others? Who do I even want reading these posts in the first place?  How is...