St. Luke's House Inc.; Bethesda, MD

My particular position with St. Luke's House was in the Life Skills Program. This particular program works on a class basis in which the mental health patients participate in a number of groups including cooking, reading, computer training, fitness, recovery planning, current events, gardening, and more. My role was to assist both the clients and my supervising counselors by any means necessary while all along learning as much as I can about the particular mental health disorders highlighted at St. Luke's House (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder).

Overall I would rate my placement as excellent and would not change anything about it.

I would highly recommend this site to other students because working at St. Luke's House is the ultimate experience for someone who is trying to become more involved in the mental health field. The direct patient interaction serves as an invaluable experience as many do not get the chance to have this. As an aspiring therapist, I have learned a great deal about helping people who are mentally unwell, and also helping those who are healthy. It was extremely beneficial to have a number of counselors contributing different points of view for the same ultimate goal, which is helping these patients in their recovery and assisting acclimating them back into society.