I'm grateful that I work in one of those "cool" occupations, which is to say that I am a mental health peer support worker. The pay is, of course, abysmally low, as it generally is with cool jobs, but there are tradeoffs. Living in government subsidized housing also helps. As a peer support worker I do not have the kind of clinical distance from our clients that other therapists take for granted. This is because the very essence of my position involves what I have in common with my clients. As a peer, I am a role model for recovery and wellness. I also help mentor my clients towards an enhanced level of wellness and improved quality of life.
My work teaches me and mentors me to be a better person. My clients teach me to be a better friend. My friends teach me to be a better worker.
There is a tendency in my work, and at times a tacit pressure, that I refer to my clients as peers instead of clients. I am not comfortable with this. Because we are so much closer to our clients than their case managers, psychiatrists or rehab therapists, we need all the more to have healthy boundaries that we can maintain with our clients. Calling them peers simply blurs that boundary, which I need in place given how much my arrangements with clients often come to resemble friendship. Referring to them as clients does absolute nothing to diminish my respect for them, nor interfere with my ability to work well with them. I did say that they often become like friends, didn't I?
So here I am, in this cool occupation, for the past thirteen years, which I am likely still to be involved with post-retirement, which happens in three years, nine months, eight days, five hours and forty-five minutes. I will soon be able, with a little process, to refine it down to the nanosecond! Like most cool jobs, there is sweet f-all in professional status. We live at the bottom rung of the ladder in our hierarchical mental health system and we also pick up the lowest pay, less than a dollar above minimum wage. There is no holiday or vacation pay, no dental coverage or other benefits. This is one of the most horribly managed jobs, for structure, lousy pay and benefits, I have ever worked in.
I could say more, but there is never any telling who is going to end up reading my drivel, so I will heed the ancient wisdom behind these little words: "Never piss off those who have the power to hurt you."
All things considered, I still appear to have enough money left in the bank every year to fund a month long vacation anywhere in Latin America, which is very propitious for polishing and improving my Spanish. Today, I saw three clients. The first lives on the east side of town, near Commercial Drive, my stomping grounds for almost ten years and one of my favourite neighbourhoods. So, I walked four miles to see my client, enjoying the fine summery weather of this perfect spring day, admiring vintage heritage homes and gardens and trees. Then I walked another mile and a half to the bus stop, simply for the pleasure of feeling my legs move. Following my second client I walked another two miles through another beautiful neighbourhood, surrounded by lovely heritage homes, gardens, trees and flowers. Following a thoroughly enjoyable visit with my third client, and the other two were also very enjoyable, I walked another two miles before grocery shopping and bussing the short remaining distance home.
Everything went well today, as it usually does. I enjoyed plenty of exercise and fresh air while surrounded by beauty. I had the pleasure of interacting with and participating in the life journeys of three awesome people.
And I get paid for doing this!
And so far, no one has complained about the warm weather! Can it get any better! Well, a raise would be nice...
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