After we had finished the basic counselling course in May, 2018 we could hardly believe that it was over! We had experienced a lot of changes in ourselves which required still some settling down. We had a lot of AHA moments, our new way of thinking about us and our helping discussions required some reinforcement. We had a great community, a good team in an awesome atmosphere and we had built relationships with people we got to know and learn to love. So it all cried out for an encore.

In my workplace I had to face yet another area of fear. I mothered an intern who had been placed into my care, I taught her many things. This teaching and helping came easy for me. My intern has a self-assertive attitude. Sometimes she does not pick up the phone, nor does she call me back, disappears for longer time period to do her own things without telling me about it. She assigns a holiday in the calendar without having checked it with me. She does not respect me as her superior. On the other hand she does not tell me when she has issues at work.

I really enjoyed the one-year counselling course for beginners led by Marti Reimer. Last year two people from our church finished this course. This year five of us were able to attend. I considered whether I should sign up for the course. On the one hand, I asked whether it was necessary for me to attend it. Do I really want to study again, write tests, and do everything involved in a classroom? On the other hand, as good Christians, we need to deal with others instead of ourselves. We grew up. We learned that everything with “self” in it (self-knowledge, deeper understanding of one’s self) is selfish and wrong. Psychology, psycho-therapy and everything with psycho in it is inherently shady so we should keep our distance from them. Based on my experience, with the class of those in our church who are interested, and then the class of those who would like to grow, I was feeling that I would need to learn, move forward to be able to help others better.