Miles to Work
I commute to work like a majority of therapists. On the way to work, I can create my own anxiety attack about how many patients there will be and how many of them "have to" be seen before lunch. This is not the best way for me to get started on a day but it does happen. When I get to work, I realize it is not as busy as I thought it would be and the patients really do not have a preference about a.m./p.m. treatments. (My mind playing tricks on me again).
On more than one occasion, I have worked less than 15 minutes from my home. This is not too bad but I ended up seeing the patients I treated at the grocery store and sometimes it can be uncomfortable, especially if I had seen the patient half-dressed.
The rewards of patient care have taken me over an hour to get to work on the I-10 freeway out to Palm Desert, CA. When the temperature reaches 120 degrees and the air conditioning in my van cannot keep up, I reminisce about being only 15 minutes away from home. It is a trade off - do I work close to home and not be challenged professionally or face a challenge but drive further?
Having a further drive home allows me to decompress and change from therapy person to husband/father in the car rather than at home. I can rehash my day and figure out where I could have done things differently during the ride. I can reflect on the day and redefine it and decide what could have made it better for the patients. Then when I get home I can play the role I need to.