My TBRI Testimony

I feel that bubbling up in my soul, that excited joy that only comes from the Holy Spirit when I think about God's goodness and plan for my life. This is not a post intended for bragging...  however I hope this may encourage those who have been wondering about whether God has a plan for their life. He does.. and I would like to share a bit of my testimony to show how He has been working in mine.

I've never had one of those moments that I felt God directly speaking me or telling me what decision to make. I have wanted to be a vet my whole life.  When I started to think about career options seriously at my Christan high school I realized that being a veterinarian meant 12-13 long  years of college.. no thanks. I took some job tours in school and one of them was to a Christan counseling office. The therapist there said he went to school for social work but strongly impressed on us not to consider that degree because it was far too liberal and he barely came out unscathed. This peaked my interest.. only because I am one of those rebellious people who loves taking on challenges others tell me not to. Fast forward to my freshman year in college where I had no idea what I wanted to do yet but I was loving my sociology class. I had not seen a campus adviser yet.. more rebellion perhaps.. but in my sophomore year I needed to go in to declare a major in order to transfer. My adviser said that if I liked sociology I should try a social work class. I remembered the words from the therapist in high school and I boldly (rebelliously) took the course. Suffice to say.. I loved it. I went to UWSP and then to my Master's of Social Work at UWO. Looking back, I never really put too much thought my career. I just put in applications, worked my butt off, prayed, and walked through doors that God opened. 

One of those doors I walked though was choosing my undergrad internship at Catholic Charities. I picked the agency off the top of the list because it was with kids and it wasn't CPS.. not much more went into my thought process. God set me up with fabulous internship supervisors and I attended my first TBRI training through them. And my heart lept as I heard the message... God placed a seed. Two years later I was still following the training and went to a simulcast in Wausau.. applied for the scholarship advertised there to go to Texas.. and I got it! (see picture above)

I attended the TBRI practitioner training in September and I can see the steps that led me to what I feel is my "calling." Goes to show you that God can take those ugly parts about you (my rebellion) and use it for His good.  For those unfamiliar with Trust-Based Relational Intervention please see the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development for more information. I am convinced God used Dr. Purvis to create this intervention to equip God's people to care for orphans and the vulnerable, or "kids from hard places" as she called it.  I am grateful to be apart of caring on her legacy and sharing in her mission. I plan to share more posts about how I am using this inspired intervention in my work as a therapist in the future.