Dr. Joy's Lifetime Lessons

I had the pleasure of meeting (through a partnership with her company) a Behavior Therapist that I will refer to as Dr. Joy. I first saw her in action when she was contracted to work with a very aggressive mother who felt her entire world was caving in on her all at once!!! A low paying job, a full-time student, single parent of 3 (spouse was recently deceased); poor means of transportation, and no other support system… just to mention a few things that were currently going on. And now to make matters worse in her eyes, the possibility of a suspected diagnosis of Autism for the middle aged child wasn’t helping to say the least. During a very sensitive meeting to discuss with Mom the concerns and potential solutions, she (Mom) became verbally aggressive and hostile. At this moment, Dr. Joy calmly explained that we all can recognize how difficult taking all this information in could be with the recent loss of her husband (the lifetime partner who was suppose to assist in handling situations like these). With a gentle and kind voice, Dr. Joy stated that we had discussed matters regarding the child long enough, so… tell us, and how are you Mom? With just that question at that perfect timing, Mom opened up to share all her grief and concerns with being a newly single parent of 3 with the total responsibility of everything. In seeing her despair and need, Dr. Joy offered her free counseling sessions in the home so that childcare wouldn’t be an issue (weekends included, if necessary). Mom agreed and was then able to move forward with making decisions for having her son complete the necessary assessments and evaluations.

Afterward during a conversation that Dr. Joy and I had one on one, she mentioned that the sole purpose for her becoming a licensed therapist wasn’t for the money, but to help others through their trying times as God meant for her to. It was her purpose and she had made peace with it a long time ago. Dr. Joy passed away from a battle with Cancer most recently; however, her lessons/gift of recognizing when and how to help others help themselves remains with me daily. Her ability to “LISTEN” and “SEE” all people regardless of their circumstances was remarkable and I am fortunate to have taken every opportunity to have learned through the lessons she modeled.