I don’t really have much to say about how the therapeutic center I intern at “receive products” and “distribute products”, as it doesn’t apply to the supply chain domain at all. We could say that it provides more like a “service”, such as counseling, social assistance, medication consultation, workshops, etc. But instead of emphasizing we as a service deliverer, I like describing here as a space of accompany. One of the psychologists I work with describes the center as a “palette”, with different colors representing different types of activities and services offered. Patients are not passively being assigned to anything, but rather, they choose and pick the “colors” depending on their needs and wish.

Such ideas can be reflected in several ways of how professionals interact with clients. In psychological counseling, the psychologists wouldn’t assign any type of therapy to the patient, but would rather listen to the patient’s account of problems and concerns and orient him to look at things differently from a new perspective or to relieve mental burdens that have been debilitating the daily life. During the sculpture or painting workshops, the instructors do not really “teach” people how to create their own works or introduce a certain topic for everyone to base their ideas on, but instead standing by the participants and simply just “be with them”, creating a subtle feeling that the participant is always accompanied, and his/her effort is being witnessed/recognized by someone, even though it might just be simple acknowledgement (praise is not always necessary).

There is no single way to actually regulate psychological and therapeutic activities. I always like to think that even professionals, though equipped with skills and knowledge, are human beings, fragile human beings. There are times when psychologists can separate themselves more completely from the issue itself, such as conducting a behavioral therapy while helping a patient overcoming OCD or phobia, but in the case of the center I intern at, people have been following the services for 8, 10 years, and have already integrated this experience into their life. In this case, one cannot confidently assert that professionals would stay objective all the time. They too, have experienced the ups and downs with the client throughout all these years. During the process, emotions might be evoked, opinions might be changed, and personalities might have undergone stages of shaping. It seems that at this time, we once again see the relationships between professionals and clients as more of an accompaniment.

I wouldn’t know as of now how working in this field will exactly be like in the future. Honestly, even with quite of few of experiences interning in therapeutic centers and community services, I haven’t had a concrete clue of what kind of professional life I will be expecting. I, too, might even need to consider my own emotional management and personality when integrating into the industry. I could anticipate that my work, should I actually becoming a therapist/psychologist, will consist of tons of challenges, which might lead to a doubt in myself and in the career. But I sincerely value the concept of “accompany” in the whole human experience, and since this path adheres most to my philosophy,  I am still determined to follow it.