Kellie Leopold

Responsibilities

I had a wide variety of responsibilities throughout my internship. I was responsible for helping with follow up for families who had received services at Hamilton's, collecting resources to cater to different individuals, assist in preparing for special events and programs put on by the academy, and co-facilitate grief groups online and in person such as in schools. Truly, every day at the Academy was different in its own way and our days were changed around in order to help individuals in the best way possible, whenever they needed it.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during my internship was being offered a full time job at the Academy for post graduation! I was thrilled to accept this position and to continue my learning and efforts to help those who are grieving. Besides this, though, my biggest accomplishment was learning a ton about myself and my abilities to help others. I learned so much about my capacity to help, and how to balance work and life. I also learned the variety of ways I can help someone and be there for them, and that I am truly passionate about this line of work!

Learning experience

I think one of the biggest lessons I learned throughout my time at my internship is the power of presence! I started off pretty reserved, mostly because I was nervous about saying the wrong thing to a grieving person, not using the right language, etc. I did come out of my shell a ton by the end, but I also learned how valuable being quiet can be as well. Sometimes not saying anything at all, and just being physically there for a person can be incredibly beneficial. Another really important lesson I learned was how to use the information I was given in order to help in the best way possible. When working with grief, it is easy to want to ask all the questions and figure out exactly what happened. While these details may help in finding more resources they may need, they are not necessary to help a person out. In fact, they are not the most appropriate to ask either. So, using the information that they are comfortable to give by themselves is what I have needed to take and transform into the kind of help that we can provide for them, and learning that that is all you need is important.

What advice would you give?

Never stop asking questions! My supervisor was an awesome demonstration for continuing education. She has been at the Academy for 11 years, and is still doing constant research on different topics regarding mental health and grief and furthering her knowledge. You can feel really lost throughout, being so fresh to the field, but keeping confidence that the knowledge will come overtime definitely helps. Not knowing things is guaranteed going into it, and no one will fault you for asking all the questions you have and showing passion for the work by doing so!