Hi, my name is Nerissa and I am an applied
psychology student from Amsterdam.
Applied psychology is a study that revolves around
people and their behaviour and their surroundings.
I came to Hope to do my internship here.
The programme here offers me the chance to
do an internship so in a professional way
it’s a great chance for me to get experience
working in the field, get experience in real
life instead of learning from books.
Although the study I do we get a lot of practical
knowledge, we have training courses,
we do internships, we do
projects in a group.
So this is the ultimate working experience.
This programme combines different things.
It combines CBT which is cognitive behavioural
therapy with the 12 steps.
We go to AA meetings and NA meetings but then
there’s also exercise in the morning,
there is yoga classes, meditation classes,
mindfulness classes we have too.
In my opinion it’s a holistic approach instead
of just doing CBT or just doing the 12 steps,
it’s all combined into one thing which eventually
meets every client’s needs and I think that’s
why the success rate of this rehab is so high,
because of that holistic approach we have here.
My roles and responsibilities as an intern
at Hope Rehab are first of all to teach the
clients the things I know but also teach the
staff the things I know because I’ve been
taught a lot about conversational techniques,
how to train people, how to coach people.
They taught me a lot at school, quite a lot
of knowledge which I can share here with everyone,
with the staff, with the clients.
I definitely consider myself a support worker
too because I make sure the new clients feel
welcome, I go over and make sure that they're
all right.
If there’s anything they need I’ll show
the clients around the place and make them
feel welcome, that's what I do.
But then I also help with homework if the clients
need any help with their work book or their step work.
I’m always around and I’ll always tell
everyone if you need me I’m around, ask
me if you need help, which is a hard thing
for most people to do, ask someone for help,
but then eventually they're always happy that
they did.
I also have logistical responsibilities, for
instance I go to the hospital with clients
if they're in need of a detox or if someone
needs to see the methadone doctor
I'll go with them to see the doctor.
If they're in need of a yoga class I also
do yoga class sometimes and exercise-wise
every morning I'm up with the clients to
do exercise.
So we go for a bike ride or for a run in the morning
or we have boxing classes I also join in with.
It’s a nice way to relate with the client
in a professional way but a less confronting way.
It’s more easy going, you know, and they
feel that they connect to you as well.
On the weekends we go on excursions to, for
instance, the island that’s right here in
front of the coast or we go to the zoo and
on these excursions I also join to support
the staff and the clients on the excursions.
One of the most important things I’ve learnt
here in Hope Rehab Centre is about boundaries.
It’s very important to maintain a professional
relationship but I live on site as well so
it’s very important professionally to keep
the boundaries and I learned a lot about those.
For instance, do not talk with another client
about another client.
Overall the experience here at Hope has just
been this wonderful experience and I gained
so much experience by being here which I couldn't
have in any other place really.
Dylan here is the head counsellor and he’s
also my supervisor, very experienced in the field,
and so are the other counsellors here.
They’ve taught me a lot and I’m so grateful
and thankful for being here and everyone’s
hospitality as well, right from the day I got
here I felt welcome and that’s priceless really.
So I want to thank everyone and thank you
for watching too.
