On compound interest
I’ve heard of “compound interest” in the financial realm: investing money over many years and through the strength of compound interest I will be able to retire one day. Sound advice that I wish I had an opportunity to take in my early 20s. I try to be kind to my younger self; I was taking out a lot of loans and focused on going through graduate school. Saving money was not really an option outside a small emergency fund.
There is another way of looking at compounding interest: lessons and life experiences build upon one another to create wisdom over time. We ask our clients to attend the same group over an extended period of time. How many times did our group have the same conversation? How many times have our clients walked the same path over and over again? Yet, it is not the same experience. Each walk is slightly different and only in retrospect does the realization of growth becomes clear. Small compound interest over time produces shocking results.
As a training director, I am recognizing that my hope for interns, whether they continue to practice group counseling or not, is to continually grow and become wise psychologists who will become role models for future generations. Attend conferences. Participate in workshops. Earn certifications. Not to get CE to just renew their license, but to develop their own wisdom. In time, it's up to them to lead our field. To advocate. To train. My generation's responsibility is to set them up for success. Give them a space to cultivate the wisdom to lead competently. Provide an opportunity to generate compound interest.