theme: how my recent grad school experience impacted my grief and my continuing bond with Kade

b – beliefs

Although it was a Jesuit Catholic university, in my opinion our counseling and family therapy program supported all spectrum of faiths and beliefs. The program was about deep self-reflection as much as about theory, research, and techniques. We learned the importance of addressing a client’s spirituality in therapy as well as cultivating our own spiritual practice.

After Kade’s death, my belief system was challenged. Number one, I was questioning my faith and beliefs before Kade died. Number two, he died, which set in motion examining the meaning of EVERYTHING, including my belief system. And number three, school provided outlet for this reflection, with about 814 self-reflection papers, against a backdrop of classes such as Spirituality and Counseling. Pretty handy.

Like so many things, I continue to examine my beliefs and nurture my spirituality. As I grow into myself I feel less tied to dogma and more drawn to humanism and connectedness. I like opportunities to be exposed to different people, faiths, beliefs, and expressions.

For goodness sake, my clinical year was in Boulder. With Naropa University students and graduates. How could my spiritual plane not be expanded by that?

I often pulled over and snapped pictures on my drive to my internship in Boulder.