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| by Dillon |
Todd got a new job.
He is going to be the equine therapist at a new residential treatment center for teenage boys, and he is beyond excited. He believes in the model this school uses, his caseload will stay at or near 8 students, and he will get to work with horses, which he loves. For those of you who are not familiar with residential treatment, the boys (ages 14-18) live, attend school, and receive intense therapy while there. He actually interviewed with the new place last March, before the school was even built. They didn't take their first students until September, and they are finally ready for another therapist. It is a small school, with the capacity for 24 students. When they had enough students to warrant hiring again, they went straight to Todd's resume, because they remembered him from his first interview, and knew he would be a good fit.
I'm going to have to be vague in the details, because it isn't appropriate to put it all on a blog, but 2012 was a very difficult year. One that I wasn't sad to see go.
Todd's job this past year has kept him at a caseload of up to 18 kids. (The industry standard is 8-10). His job is mentally taxing, and physically draining. Each week he was spending two full days doing equine therapy, and three days scheduling appts. and meeting with each student for a therapy session, and/or their parents for a phone session, and group therapy with other students. Then, there's paperwork...for every single session/phone call/and equine session. And then there are emails, texts, and voice mails from stressed/angry/worried parents (who are paying an exorbitant amount of money to "fix" their child).
He'll deal with the students, parents, and paperwork wherever he goes, but the "kicker" is that he doesn't even agree with the model that the school uses to treat the students. Parents would call with a concern about how something was handled, and Todd would agree with them, but he had to "stick up" for the company. What a horrible position to be in!
When one of his co-workers found out he was leaving, he commented, "We're taking years off our lives by working here". I couldn't agree more.
When Todd gave his [generous] three week notice, it was only hours before he got a call asking what they could do to get him to stay. The answer was easy.
Nothing.
It's past time for a change.
It has been rough.
But...it's over now. Or it will be soon. I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, so I can't imagine how Todd must feel. I am grateful for the job, in that it allowed us to move down here, get settled, and be together as a family. I feel like it was just a stepping stone to get us to this new job (which didn't exist when we moved here a year ago).
I am so grateful for Todd. Everything he's been through this past year, has been for our family. He's given his all (literally everything he has to give) in order to support me and the kids. Because he also has private clients in the evenings, runs two Lifestar groups every week, and is the Elder's Quorum Pres. he hasn't had any time for himself, and when he did, he usually spent it fixing something around the house. I am so grateful and blessed to have married him, and I pray that the coming year will be better. He deserves it.
I just cannot fully express my relief.
It's SO past time.
