Carly Story
Supervisor – Elizabeth Winkler
Sept. 28th
Today was my first day at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center and my first time meeting Elizabeth. She gave us a tour of the Strozzi building where the inpatients live and have group therapy. The building is very old and everything is kept locked at all times for the safety of the patients and workers. Elizabeth introduced Ashley Kalstek and me to some of the other women who work in the building and we had lunch with them and they filled us in on some of the patients and things we should expect.
Sept. 30th
Today was my orientation for the Center. I was in Strozzi again and received my student badge and parking pass for the lot. I have to be wearing my badge at all times or else I will not be admitted into the buildings. The security seems very tight around here, which is good, but it also puts me on edge a little bit. I’m anxious to get started here and start sitting in on the group sessions. I had to watch an hour long video on the Buffalo Psychiatric Center and all of its rules and regulations and complete a short little quiz at the end. I learned that most of the patients here are schizophrenic, and a lot of them are court ordered to be here as well.
Oct. 5th
I still haven’t sat in on a group session yet, today I received my TB shot and I have to have that cleared before I see any patients. Elizabeth took us on a tour of the grounds today and I saw the infamous towers up close – still creepy even during the day!
Oct. 7th
I was cleared medically and finally got the green light to begin sitting in on group sessions. We will be staying with Elizabeth on Thursdays in the Life Challenges group and on Tuesdays we will go with Leo Malone, another social worker at the center, in his Positive Attitudes group. Each group session lasts one hour and then the patients get a 15 minute break in-between each session.
Oct. 12th
Today was the first group I sat in on. It was Positive Relationships and Elizabeth and a former patient who is now a patient advocate, Bob, led it. Bob is schizophrenic and very, very outspoken. Prior to going into the session, I did not know that Bob was formerly a patient, and I kept thinking to myself how inappropriate he seemed. Some of the patients in the group seemed leery of my presence, while others did not even appear to notice anything different. For the most part, the patients kept quite and Bob did most of the talking.
Oct. 14th
Today was my first time in the Life Challenges group led by Elizabeth. We discussed the rescue of the Chilean miners, and I was surprised to learn that many of the patients had been following the story or at least had heard about it. I had always imagined that the BPC was very isolated and disconnected from the outside world, but a lot of the patients are well-informed and up to date about current events. The patients took turns reading a newspaper article, and then they discussed their thoughts on the story.
Oct. 19th
I had a very interesting and uncomfortable experience today at the Center during the Positive Attitudes group. I sat next to Danny, a schizophrenic patient who is normally not allowed in group session from what I have learned. During the entire session he was trying to engage me in conversation by saying extremely inappropriate things under his breath. I tried to quietly and nicely tell him to listen to whomever was talking at the time, but this situation made me realize that if I were in a one on one therapy situation with him, I would have no idea how to react. This was definitely an eye-opening experience, and I wonder if I will be faced with many of these situations in the future.
Oct. 21st
Today during Life Challenges, Elizabeth brought in a sheet of quotes for each patient. We all went around the able and everybody read a quote and was then asked to share his or her thoughts about the meaning. One patient, Penny, used to be a schoolteacher and she was very interested in correcting all of the grammatical and spelling errors that were on the sheet. It seems as though she wants to make sure that everyone knows how intelligent she is. The group did much better interpreting the quotes than I had thought they would. I need to give the patients at BPC more credit!
Oct. 26thDanny did not return to Positive Attitudes this week, so the group ran much more smoothly this time. I’m very interested in one patient, Jeff, who is extremely detached and disconnected from the group. He too suffers from schizophrenia, and Leo told me after the group that he is on a very high dosage of lithium. It makes me really upset to see patients who have been on such serious medications for so long because they really become zombie-like at times. With or without their medication, these patients are not normally functioning individuals and it makes me wonder if the medication is as necessary as some claim.
Oct. 28th
Today in Life Challenges, the topic was male breast cancer. Elizabeth introduced the topic with an article she had found online about a member of the band KISS who had been diagnosed with male breast cancer. It is also still Breast Cancer Awareness Month so the topic was fitting. The patients took turns reading the article, and everybody was extremely surprised to learn that males can get breast cancer too. Everybody took the discussion very seriously, and some patients also shared stories of family members who had cancer. I think the group was engaged and enjoyed todays group.
Nov. 2nd
During this week’s Positive Attitudes group, the patients discussed the difference between wants and needs. They were each given a worksheet and there was a column for wants and a column for needs. They were asked to fill in each column with things that pertained to their own personal wants and needs, and then they each went around the group and shared with one another the things they had written. A common theme for the wants of the patients were to be discharged, friendship, and love. Some of the patients also put more superficial things under their want column, like a car, money, Red Lobster, new clothes, a boyfriend or girlfriend. The needs were very basic, and overall the group did really well distinguishing between what a want and need was. I was very proud, and some of their answers were quite amusing!
Nov. 4th
This time during the Life Challenges discussion we talked about the transitional period that the patients face when they are discharged. They are sent to another facility where they have a lot more freedom and responsibility, and the group discussed the things that they like doing when they have the opportunity to have a day pass and leave the building. Even something as simple as going for a walk in the fresh air is something that I take for granted, and these people have to have permission to leave the grounds. It seems like a lot of the patients are comfortable here, and even afraid of being discharged.
Nov.9th
The discussion topic in Positive Attitudes today was anger and how to deal with it. The patients shared experiences they have had either in the past or on their housing floors when they were faced with a frustrating situation and how it made them feel. Omataya shared with the group that he felt as if another man on his living unit was purposely doing things to make him upset. His paranoia was evident during this group; usually he sleeps or appears to be daydreaming but something must have happened on his living unit recently that has got him upset. A lot of the patients mentioned that they know they should walk away fro situations that upset them but that it is difficult.
Nov. 11th
In Life Challenges today the patients were given a handout that had a maze on it to complete. This was a VERY interesting session. Only one person, Dave, managed to complete the maze. Dave is an extremely intelligent man; he spits out random facts as if he was an encyclopedia. I noticed he is very shaky and has impaired speech at times which I assume is from his medication for schizophrenia. A lot of the patients in the group gave up on the maze or just did not even attempt it at all, claiming it was too hard for them to do. I heard another patient mutter under his breath that he was “retarded” and “couldn’t do it, it was too hard”. I think this maze was probably too difficult for the patients, and it probably was a bit of a blow to their self-esteem to not be able to complete it. It made me sad to hear them putting themselves down so much, and to not even see them give themselves enough credit to even attempt it.
Nov. 16th
Positive Attitudes today discussed the upcoming field trips that the patients could sign up for if they were given permission. They were going to Wegmans, Kohl’s, or Regal Cinemas, depending on what they picked. The patients all seemed to be in good spirits and talking about getting off of the grounds, even for a few hours, definitely seemed to life their spirits. A few people mentioned wanting to go to Kohl’s so they could get some Christmas shopping done.
Nov. 18th
In Life Challenges, Elizabeth told the group about a weight-loss contest they were running in the Wellness Center. The patients could sign up to be a part of the contest and the four people who lost the most weight at the end would each win $25. Elizabeth explained to me that to these patients, $25 is a lot of money because they aren’t working and a lot of the time they don’t have any savings or family to give them money. There was not an overwhelming response to the contest, but a few people did sign up. One woman I had never seen in group before kept mentioning that she liked mayonnaise too much to want to lose weight.
Nov. 23rd
Thanksgiving was the discussion topic today in Positive Attitudes. The patients all talked about the things in their lives that they are thankful for, and the other group leader, Jeanette, asked everybody what their plans were. A couple of the patients had day passes and were going to be spending the holiday with their families (this made me very happy!!). Something bothered me about today’s group though. Jeanette asked Sal, one of the patients, if he was going to be seeing his kids for Thanksgiving and he said no, he was not going to be seeing them and Jeanette responded by saying “Doesn’t that make you sad? Don’t you feel bad that you won’t be seeing your kids?” I don’t know what she was trying to get him to say or do, but I don’t understand why she would approach it that way and rub salt in his wounds. That bothered me a bit today.
Nov. 25th
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov. 30th
Today Leo and Jeanette passed around a bag full of quotes about attitudes in the Positive Attitude group. Each patient had to pull out a random quote, read it aloud, and then give their interpretation. This was similar to a Life Challenges group I had been in a few weeks previously, and I think this activity really got the patients thinking. They all took their time reading their quote to the rest of the group, and gave thoughtful answers about what they believed were the correct interpretations. It really opened up the communication among them as well; one of the patients pulled the quote “Carpe diem” and he did not know what it meant and another patient explained it to him. It was nice to seem them all participating and engaging with one another.
Dec. 2nd
In Life Challenges today the topic was healthy holiday food. Elizabeth brought in a list of ten foods that were healthy and a list of food to avoid during the holiday season. I understand the relevancy of the holiday’s and all of that, however I don’t think this topic was particularly relevant for these patients. Most of them will not be leaving for Christmas, and therefore will not be exposed to the majority of the things on the list. Also, a lot of the patients did not even know what a lot of the things on the list were, so this did not seem to be a very effective group.
Dec. 7th
In Positive Attitudes we opened the discussion by talking about Elizabeth Edwards and her battle with cancer and her positive attitude and spirit. Almost everyone in the group was familiar with who Elizabeth Edwards was, and many of them knew about her public battle with cancer as well. Her attitude was used as an example that even though things may seem tough for you, somebody always has it worse and we need to stay positive. I agree with the message of staying positive, however I didn’t like that Jeanette said that when you think you have it bad, think about someone who has it worse. I don’t believe in minimizing your own problems by comparing them to somebody else’s. We are entitled to our feelings, and maybe our problems are not as big as somebody else’s but that certainly doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t feel the way that we do.
Dec. 9th
Life Challenges was very fun today, it was the most interactive I have ever seen the group. Elizabeth passed out Christmas themed worksheets for the patients to work on – they were much easier than the maze worksheets- and everybody seemed to enjoy them. The group overall seemed relaxed and engaged, except Penny. Penny had formerly been an outpatient but was a newly admitted inpatient and it was quite obvious that her medication had changed. She was usually constantly giving her two cents and during this session she was late and very subdued. She also seemed inattentive and didn’t appear to be listening; she asked what page we were on three times.
