Medical Services at Stroger Hospital: Day 1

This is one of my most read posts. Please feel free to post comments about your reasons for checking out Stroger and what your experience was like. If you know of any other medical resources, please list them too to help other readers.

Yesterday (Monday: Day 1) we arrived Stroger Hospital’s Fantus Outpatient Clinic at 6:30am. There were already 40 people in line ahead of us. The ones first in line said they’d gotten there between 5am and 5:30am. Since my husband was told over the phone by someone at the clinic that the first 85 people would be taken, we figured we were safe, especially since someone in line said that not everyone was there seeking medical services.

The doors opened soon after 7am and people rushed in. We first ended up in the wrong group (it was by the pharmacy) and then went down the hall where the people seeking medical services were waiting. We got in line, where there were 20 people before us. We told the nurses what we were there for (“psychiatric medication management”) and that it was our first time there so we still needed to be granted “limit of liability insurance.”

After being chided for coming up two at a time, we sat down, and the day-long wait began.

I tried estimating how long it would take for us to be called based on when people in line near us were taken. This proved to be horribly inaccurate. Because we needed psychiatric medication, we were given a different designation and had to wait for the appropriate person to become available. This is fair. However, no one told us when that person would be available even though it seemed to be clear from the get-go that it wouldn’t be until after 1pm. This resulted in us sitting in the waiting area for 11 hours watching other people get taken before us and not knowing why. All the more irritating was the fact that they could have told us we wouldn’t be seen until the afternoon and so we could have had lunch or at least gone outside instead of trying to stay semi-alert for hours on end listening for our names to be yelled out.

It also turned out that there was no set cut off time or number for being called. This changes daily. The basic idea seemed to be that if you got in close to 7am, you’d probably get seen that day. In the end, I’m not sure what time they stopped formally admitting people or how many people got to be seen. All I know is a guy who was number 3 in line (he seemed to have shown up by 5:30am) was out by 8:30am and a woman who came in at 10am got out at the same time as I did (close to 7pm). Perhaps there is no rhyme or reason to it.

As far as we could tell, the overall process was this:

• stand in line for the nurse (stations 1 or 2 in the center of the room)
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• go to a numbered triage booth, get your temperature and blood pressure taken
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• possibly be selected for a rapid HIV test (it seemed to be only males that were selected)
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• go to a lettered registration booth – sign some stuff, get a “limit of liability” card (everyone is supposed to get one, make sure they give it to you)
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• see someone about results for rapid HIV test
• sit down and wait for your name to be called (this part is the longest waiting time)
• go through a RED or GREEN door to see a medical doctor: it’s like a regular doctor’s visit, you can say what you’d like the doctor to help you with, get a blood draw for it to be tested, get prescriptions written out
• if you get blood drawn, you go somewhere else in the building: we didn’t get this done because we didn’t see the financial services people yet and couldn’t be sure if we would get rejected for limit of liability insurance and get billed for the blood draw and blood tests
• if you need additional specialty services: the doctor orders them for you, you get it done, then come back and see the doctor (this is a guess based on talking to people who were waiting)
• if you need psychiatric medication: sit down and wait for your name to be called
• go through a RED or GREEN door to see a Physician’s Assistant (a student) who is doing a psychiatric rotation: answer questions about your medications (again) and your psychiatric history. Note: as a student, they cannot help you with anything as they don’t have the training or authority.
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• go through a RED or GREEN door to see the same Physician’s Assistant (a student) and a Psychologist (who also works in other areas of the hospital and came in when he had time): answer questions about your medications (in more detail) and your psychiatric history (in more detail). If you want your medications adjusted, he calls the Psychiatrist (who’s in another room and doesn’t seem to see most of the psychiatric patients) and gives them a summary of what your psychiatric history is. The Psychiatrist tells the Psychologist what medications to change. The Psychologist writes the prescriptions and has the Psychiatrist sign off on them.
• sit down and wait for your name to be called
• stand in line at the booth where you first stood when you came in: get discharge papers, your next appointment (if there is one), and any orders for medications
• if you get prescriptions: go to the pharmacy down the hall and get them filled; regardless of the number of medications, the fee won’t be more than $10 (multiple people told us this, so we hope that this information is accurate)
• if you have no prescriptions and it’s your first visit: go to the financial office to see if you qualify for limit of liability insurance (what happens if you get rejected, no one knew)
• if you have no prescriptions and you already have the limit of liability insurance: I don’t know what you do, perhaps you can finally go home

For us, we were there for so long that the pharmacy was already closed. Our plan was to drop off the prescriptions and then go to the financial services office so we would have to wait (hopefully) less for the pharmacy.

Instead, we decided we’d come back another day to take care of both. It’s good that we did this as when my husband called financial services today (Tuesday) he was told that we needed to see the unemployment office (not in the medical complex) first to show that we weren’t receiving unemployment.

So, now the plan for tomorrow (Wednesday: Day 2) is to go to the unemployment office near us, go to Stroger, drop off the prescriptions at the pharmacy, go to the financial services office, and after that’s done (and hopefully after all this we’ll be approved and not be getting a bill we can’t afford), pick up our medications and leave.

Wish us luck!

Challenges: Social Services and Animal Shelters

The job hunt isn’t going so well.

Thanks to Governor Quinn’s proposed “Doomsday Budget” and the inability of the State Legislature to pass a budget, social services are looking at cuts of 75%. I’ve received emails from various nonprofits imploring people to call their politicians to advocate against the cuts. I called everyone that “represents” me about the budget cuts and about passing President Obama’s universal health care plan. For all but one politician, I got a person rather than voicemail. It did sound like most politicians were having their staff record the calls. How much they’ll take them into account is another story.

The cuts mean that I can’t get a job or psychiatric services. Of course, not having psychiatric services makes it harder for me to get and keep ANY job. Of course, I’m not alone. There will be people in my situation and others that are losing the services that they’ve come to rely on. Severe budget cuts also mean that organizations are firing people.

I’m still keeping open the back-up plan of working with dogs as there is a plethora of dog-related businesses in Chicago’s North Side.

In addition, I’m trying to volunteer at animal shelters, specifically in a caretaker role rather than just cleaning cages. I’ve had several disappointments. One organization, after sitting through their 2.5 hours long orientation, has blown me off. I get the feeling that they do this to a lot of their volunteers due to the poor work of the person who is paid to coordinate with volunteers.

I still haven’t heard back from another organization whom I’m offering to foster for, even though I talked to their staff at a festival. When I saw them tabling again at another event, I signed up again to foster and the main person said she’d get back to me.

Yesterday, I made it to an animal shelter orientation with my husband. (Let’s call them Shelter A.) I have higher hopes for them as I’m very familiar with their organization. My husband and I have been going there regularly for over two months now looking for a dog and we always see a lot of volunteers there and the shelter seems to be very organized. At the orientation event, we were able to sign-up for different opportunities. I’ll be following up with them soon to get the extra training needed to do the type of work I’m interested in. I’m hoping that this type of volunteering will help me get the work experience needed to get paid to work with animals and will provide a reference for graduate school. Of course, I wouldn’t even be looking into this if I didn’t love cats and dogs and care deeply about their welfare.

Help control the pet population! Spay and neuter your pets today!

Sliding-Scale Psychiatric Treatment Options

UPDATE: This post was originally written on June 28th. Many nonprofits seem to have secured funding and are accepting clients again. I personally have checked with C4 and Thresholds. However, there is likely to still be a long waiting period, but it’s still worth a try if you need help. If you come across other helpful places, please leave a comment so other readers can also get the medical treatment they need.

In addition, if you think you are eligible, try filing for Medicaid by listing mental illness as your disability and / or claiming disability with the federal government. I’ve written other posts on these topics. (10/15/09)

Note: This blog entry is by a guest editor: my husband.

With the state of the economy right now, and especially the higher-than-average unemployment rate in Chicago compared to the rest of the US, many more people are finding themselves without insurance. On top of that, in Illinois you are only eligible for Medicaid if you have children or are certified as too disabled to work, a process which can easily take months and doesn’t have any guarantee of success.

So, we’re essentially stuck with finding sliding-scale psychiatric services for our biologically-based mental illnesses. The problem is, the falling economy has also caused funding to be cut to almost every nonprofit and government-run organization, and those treating mental illness are not immune to this.

While we knew that finding sliding-scale or free treatment would be hard, we never expected it to be this hard. Below you’ll find a list of all of the places we’ve contacted as of now, and you’ll be able to see just how dismal the situation is for those of us with severe mental illness that also don’t have insurance.

Northwestern Outpatient Clinic – Doesn’t really have any services offered. Referred me to Advocate Masonic Medical Center (a private hospital)

Advocate Masonic Medical Center – Currently has a waiting list for sliding-scale until the end of September. Put us on the list, but couldn’t give any more information than that

C4 (Community Counseling Centers of Chicago – No longer offers sliding-scale treatment, but referred us to Counseling Centers of Lakeview

Counseling Centers of Lakeview – Only offering treatment for people within Lakeview, and not really able to offer many services even for people who do live there

Catholic Charities of Chicago – Doesn’t have any psychiatrists on staff at all, and could only suggest Advocate Masonic Medical Center (which we’d already called)

Thresholds – Isn’t offering services to any new clients at all right now, insured or not

NAMI (National Association for the Mentally Ill) Chicago – Doesn’t offer services themselves, but has a helpline, where I got an exceptionally nice person who, unfortunately, couldn’t really offer much beyond what I had already found. Suggested city-run clinics.

City of Chicago Clinic – River North – Almost immediately said that they had to lower their number of psychiatrists to two, due to the budget cuts in the city, and therefore couldn’t even offer previous clients appointments. In fact, River North was one of the ones the city threatened to shut down earlier this year, but was saved at the last minute. However, the city seems to have responded by cutting funding to all of the city clinics, and others I called said the same thing.

Cathedral Counseling – Sliding-scale services are available, but at a rather high price. Requires both counseling and psychiatric treatment simultaneously, which is over $200/month per person.

Lutheran Social Services – Didn’t really have any services, but suggested the city-run Stroger Fantus outpatient clinic

Howard Brown Health Center – Offers sliding-scale referrals to psychiatrists if you see a primary-care physician first. Unfortunately, appointments are currently booked up over a month in advance.

Which brings us to the absolute last-ditch option for anyone in Chicago with no health insurance:

Stroger Hospital – This is the city-run hospital, and one that is absolutely swamped with people right now. You can see a doctor every day (with common specialists also available), as long as you are willing to jump through as many hoops as possible.

First, you have to make it to the West Loop location by 7AM, or you’ve lost your chance completely. Then, you have to be one of the first 85 people checked in, or again they turn you away. Then you wait in the waiting room until they call your name, and you have to be seen before closing time, or you don’t get seen at all and are told to come back again the next day.

If you’re lucky enough to get seen, you also have to file additional paperwork for Stroger’s discount plan, information on which is only given out if you are already being seen. Luckily, any medications prescribed to you are then free, but you may have to wait a large number of hours to be seen at all.

So, that’s the status of free or discounted psychiatric treatment in Chicago. While I’d like to think that these problems are limited to just our city, I have a feeling that other cities are feeling these issues as well. At this point, my main hope is that both of us can eventually get affordable treatment that allows us to successfully return to working and have private insurance.

Another option would be if the federal government passes universal health care that is effective and affordable. Mental health parity in health insurance was passed a few months ago, but it doesn’t help anyone who doesn’t have insurance to apply the parity to.

Without Health Insurance but Needing a Psychiatrist

My husband and I currently don’t have health insurance and don’t see a way of rectifying this situation. We’ve been denied health insurance from numerous companies so we don’t have the option of paying out of pocket. In the state of Illinois, you have to have been a resident for 6 months until for you to get health insurance from them after being denied it from private companies.

We’re currently trying for Medicaid under the requirement that we be disabled. We’re not sure if mental illness counts as a disability under their program, but we’re hoping it is. Right now, we’re just waiting. How many more weeks it’ll take until we hear back, I don’t know.

Unfortunately, continuing to wait for Medicaid is not a good option. My depression has been flaring up with a vengeance, contributing to my being irritable, moody, aggressive, groggy, and having thoughts of suicide. I made an emergency phone call to our couple’s therapist (whom we are seeing for $3 a visit through a university program) two days ago because I was feeling so suicidal.

My husband has started calling places to try to find a psychiatrist that will do sliding scale. We aren’t having any luck as most places say they are overbooked and underfunded. Neither of us are all that surprised as governments don’t like funding health services of any sort because while they are necessary and cut costs in the long run, they’re not profitable.

In the “Sliding-Scale” entry, my husband has listed who he’s called and what the result was. I asked him to write the post in order to keep track of all the places, to save others the trouble of calling places that give a flat out “no,” and also in hopes that a kind reader might have some advice.

To make matters worse, I’m out of one of my anti-depressant medications and paying for a refill out of pocket is cost-prohibitive because it’s name-brand. We’ve already had to pay for my mood stabilizer, also name-brand, this way. Thankfully, we were able to find some discounts and did a partial refill.

Stigma Regarding Mental Illness and LGBTQ

Please note: *Below are some ideas that I haven’t fully fleshed out. I have not researched the topic and my post may end up full of inaccuracies.*

(Many thanks to my husband, who proofread and formatted this post, so that it might be coherent.)

For a long time I’ve been interested in how social change takes place. What made various movements successful? Why did others fail?

One movement underway is LGBTQ Rights. It’s a very broad movement, organized around demanding recognition, acceptance, and equal rights in a variety of areas, from local, state and federal governments.

I see some similarities between the LGBTQ community and people with mental illnesses (for clarity, I will refer to people in each group as “members” of their respective groups). They are:

1. the majority of stereotypes are negative
2. stereotypes include a perception that members are a serious danger to society
3. members are considered to be personally responsible for their “abnormality” and are expected to become “normal”
4. you cannot accurately tell if someone is gay or mentally ill just by looking at them
5. members are incredibly diverse and often don’t identify with one another
6. negative stereotypes are still being perpetuated in the media and politics
7. being “outed” as a member of either group can destroy you personally and professionally
8. the stigma associated with membership is severe enough to cause other problems like addiction, risky behaviors, and even suicide

An important area where they diverge is that LGBTQ people are encouraged to be “Out and Proud.” Gay identity is to be embraced similarly to racial pride, feminism, and nationality. On the other hand, people with mental illness are encouraged to erase their status as mentally ill and hope to be “cured.” Being proud of having a mental illness is seen as being counterproductive to treatment. While there are people advocating for fat acceptance through acceptance of all sorts of body types, even though the majority of obese people probably do not want to be obese, no such thing seems to exist for mental illness.

History shows that this sentiment is detrimental. If mental illness is chronic and has a large role in your life, why not identify with it? By accepting it, self-stigma is lessened. By trying to “pass” for “normal,” the movement for recognition is set back. Not too long ago, light-skinned African Americans made an effort to “pass” for “white” because this elevated their social and economic status. While it often made life better for those able to “pass,” it didn’t help the civil rights movement. The same can be said of LGBTQ people trying to “cure” themselves of their non-heterosexuality or non-gender conformity through counseling or religion, an idea that sadly is still popular today.

While I would not wish depression, OCD, or any mental illness on anyone else, I still see it as an important part of my identity. I try to find some positive elements in it. For example, perhaps depression makes me more empathetic and self-aware; maybe my OCD allows me to have a better eye for detail and organization. I’ve read that some people with bipolar try to harness their mania to increase their productivity.

I embrace the idea that I’m “crazy” and believe that “abnormality is normal.” I believe that a person can be psychologically healthy but one can never be “normal,” since “normal” doesn’t exist. It’s a myth perpetuated by the media and serves only to make people more depressed. Just in the realm of mental illness, some studies have found that a near majority, if not a clear majority, of people will suffer from some sort of mental illness during their lifetime.

At the same time, I reject the term “disabled.” To apply for Medicaid in Chicago I need to be labeled as having a “disability.” This grouping makes no sense to me, as I feel that if I’m properly medicated and treated, I can do whatever I want. It makes it sound as if they want to deny me health insurance long enough that I am unable to function properly, and then end up truly disabled. Still, that’s bureaucratic jargon for you I guess.

Is Having a Mental Illness a Disqualifier for Working in Mental Health?

Looking through other websites, I found an article addressing the subject of this post.

Overall, the conclusion is that you can still work in the field of mental health, so long as you solve your own issues first. If anything, the empathy and understanding that can come out of being a mental health consumer can make you a better practitioner. The question for me (and the the original poster) is how long this process might take.

I would also ask, what about the problem of recurrences? Realistically, one can go on all day with the “What If?” questions.

Below is the website and the original post. I apologize in advance for not giving correct attribution. I will edit it once I know what the correct format is.

Can I Be a Good Psychologist if I Have Mental Health Issues?
By Kristina Randle, LCSW
June 22, 2009

I’ve finished up my bachelor’s degree in psychology and I’m applying to PhD programs in clinical psychology. All the cards are in my favor because I am an excellent student and have prepared myself well with research and clinical experience. However, I am scared that I will make a terrible therapist because of my personal problems.

I have OCD, social anxiety, and depression. It’s always manageable for school and work, but I find it nearly impossible to make friends and my personal life suffers. My work is giving assessments in a psychological clinic, so I speak with patients all the time and find that I am perfectly competent in that setting. I am a good listener when I am not anxious, and I am patient, kind, and understanding. I want to help people who are like me because I know what it’s like and I can really sympathize. When I hear other people’s troubles, I feel motivated to help, not bogged down.

But I am a confused person, still caught up in my own mental drama. My boyfriend has said that he won’t be able to stay with me if I’m always going to be like this. My worries are out of control. Cognitive therapy made it worse — it just turned thought evaluation into another obsession and now I’m stuck in my own internal battle.

How can I help people if I’m still lost? I don’t know how to fix myself, so how can I fix someone else? Am I making a huge mistake by going for a degree in clinical psychology?

A. You seem to possess many desirable qualities of a good psychologist. You’re empathetic and a good listener. As you mentioned, you’re kind, understanding and sympathetic. Hearing about other people’s troubles makes you want to help them. You’re motivated for all the right reasons to be a helping professional.

With regard to your personal problems I don’t think it’s unusual for individuals with their own issues to be attracted to the field of psychology. It’s actually pretty common. It shouldn’t drive you away from the field. You should, however, make a concerted effort to correct the problems you’re dealing with. Depression, anxiety, and OCD do not occur in a vacuum. Something is causing these disorders and you need to find out what it is and find a way to correct it. It’s not enough to just manage these disorders. You need to cure them or at least be working on curing them in your own treatment.

Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, had a good comment with regard to this topic. He wrote that “the psychotherapist, however, must understand not only the patient; it is equally important that he should understand himself…The patients’ treatment begins with the doctor, so to speak. Only if the doctor knows how to cope with himself and his own problems will he be able to teach the patient to do the same. Only then.”

I believe this quote to be infinitely insightful and very accurate. If you are bogged down with your own issues you won’t be able to help another individual more than you’ve been able to help yourself. It may also be true that if you’re unable to help yourself then you’ll be ineffective in helping others.

Your experiences with depression, anxiety and OCD may provide valuable insight that perhaps another therapist, who had not experienced these issues, would not have. You should use that to your advantage. However, as a responsible adult and a therapist-in-training, who is seeking to make it their life’s work to solve the problems of others, it’s incumbent upon you to be as psychologically healthy as possible.

If you decide to stay in psychology and you’re accepted into a PhD program it will take years to complete this process. That leaves you plenty of time to work on these issues. You know what you want, you’re interested in the field and you seem to possess the characteristics of an effective counselor. From my vantage point, it seems like you’re pursuing the correct career path but first consider seeking help for yourself.

Suggestions on dogs, cleaning, and ESL

Yesterday I traveled around Chicago to attend different events for fun and tried to talk to people about jobs at each place.

Petco
The groomers said that Petco and PetSmart will pay for grooming school (six months) if you sign a contract with them to work for a year. It’s also a career-oriented job for many people. It was suggested I look into “Grooming Assistant” where I wouldn’t need extra schooling and would be responsible for clipping dogs’ nails, washing them, and related tasks. In addition, the girl that took care of appointments and calls said she didn’t do any grooming, meaning there’s an administrative job in the same department. I could of course, apply to work in the retail area of Petco as well.

To do:
- check Petco’s and PetSmart’s websites for jobs
- call any place that boards, shelters, grooms, or provides day care to dogs (and cats)

Green Cleaning
While at a festival I talked to a woman whose company provided green cleaning services. She said her clients were mostly professional women who didn’t have the time to clean their apartments/condos. Among her employees were people with Bachelor’s degrees. She said some even had Master’s degrees because the economy was so bad. She said she was used to the idea of people working for her while looking for something else. Since she sounded flexible, I gave her my information and told her some reasons that I would be a great employee (such as not having any allergies and not being afraid of dogs). Thankfully, talking about my ideas for marketing her business earned me a request for my resume.

Strategies involved:
- “thinking outside the box”
- willingness to apply for a job that’s lower than what I want
- striking up conversations with friendly people
- trying to solve someone else’s problem (her table wasn’t attracting a lot of interest)
- trying not to think too much of the nonfiction book “Nickeled and Dimed”

Social Event

When people looked relaxed, I brought up the topic of looking for a job. While none of the people I talked to could help me directly, I got permission to post the topic on the main member board.

Strategies:
- not doing all of my job-hunting from home
- attempting to make sure that I don’t violate the norms or rules of an online community

Unanswered Questions

One thing I haven’t asked yet and don’t know when I’ll be able to ask, is whether or not it’s okay to reveal that I have a mental illness to prospective mental health jobs and graduate schools. I realize that this situation is especially ironic since I’m interested in stigma. It’s for this reason that I’m keeping this blog anonymous. While I may tell myself that ethically, I shouldn’t join a group that would reject me if they knew of my Depression and OCD, I need to be realistic. Also, this is considered personal information that employers aren’t allowed to go into and graduate schools mind find to be indicative of too much of a personal stake, a chip on my shoulder.

This makes answering many employment-related questions difficult.

Why did I stop working at my last job? “It was not a good fit for me” is code for “the perfectionist side of my OCD made completing data-entry and proofreading tasks extremely difficult” and “my depression made me so sensitive to frustration that I ended up crying on the job several times.”

Why haven’t I worked since December 2007? “I have kept busy as a gardener, homemaker ….” is code for “even after starting medication I felt I was not stabilized enough to begin working again and I couldn’t even handle the idea of looking for a job. Instead I focused on creating new hobbies and projects to complete.”

As for telling graduate schools why I’m interested in their program, the complete answer is in the “Author” tab of this blog. I don’t know what the safe thing to tell schools is yet. I’m hoping that pointing to applicable work experience will provide that answer… which brings me back to the need for such a job.

If anyone has any ideas on how to address this issue, please let me know.

What I’ve done so far

[The information below is a bit old but I only got the blog set up today. Many thanks goes out to my husband, without whom this blog would look like a total mess. Most likely, if had I tried to set it up on my own I would've given up in frustration and counted this blog as another incomplete project.]

Starting at the beginning of this month (June) I started to take the job hunt seriously. It’s more serious now that my husband updated me on the status of our savings. As our landlord surely wants his rent money, we really need to find decent jobs soon.

I’m used to being confounded by the problem of needing experience to get a job but not being able to get a job without experience. While I worked three to four jobs with 30-40 hour work weeks when going to school full-time (and often taking far more than the minimum 12 credits), I don’t have the experience that most employers seem to be looking for. I also followed the advice of my psychology adviser and did a research assistantship rather than interning with a company. Then and now, I am limited by not having a driver’s license, never mind my own vehicle. Many of the jobs I’m finding related to mental health require one or both. While I can understand the reasoning behind it, it doesn’t make things any easier for me.

Since applying for caseworker and related positions hasn’t been working out so far, I’ve requested a bunch of informational interviews. No luck on that front either, as my emails go unanswered and my phone calls lead to voicemail messages that have yet to be returned.

I admit that I’m impatient. The last time I hunted for a job, it took me five months to find it, and it had not been advertised. I only got it because I got through to the prospective politician after he secured enough donations to hire someone. Coincidentally, the position required that I man the same phones which weren’t answered by my new boss any of the times that I had called offering to work for him. This time I don’t have the luxury of five months, bad economy or not.

However, I have been successful at getting in touch with professors (five so far). I’ve spoken to one twice and thanks to her, I am confident in my decision to apply to the social work program that she’s teaching in, so long as she’s still there. Her current research is very similar to what I’d like to do and she’s great to talk to. A nice bonus is that she’s at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a public university.

In addition, I was able to talk to a neighbor at length, who is a school social worker. Unfortunately, she is likely to move back home to Michigan because the school she was working at closed a week ago. She said that while she has been looking for a new job for eight months, she hasn’t found one.

The main advice I’ve received so far:

- look into the applied social psychology program at Loyola
- look into the position of caseworker
- the job I eventually want might be clinical caseworker or director of research at a nonprofit
- get a driver’s license and car
- weigh my interest in a graduate school’s program heavier than the professors working there and the reputation of the school
- masters students consume research while doctoral students produce it
- contact the Mexican consulate about working with immigrants
- contact Thresholds (done)
- contact C4
- contact SAMHSA
- contact NAMI