I have attended Partial Psychiatric Programs multiple times and I am currently in the middle of my third time. Many people wonder what it is like to experience this type of program so I thought I would make a journal recording what we (myself and the other patients) learn each day. Before I get into the schedule of a typical day in what I call "counseling day camp", I will be let you in understanding the people currently attending day camp with me. I will never use their real names out of privacy to them, and I will be asking them what parts of their story they are willing to let me publish. Some experiences we have with each other will be watered down, however, that's not the point of this article series. The point is to let everyone who is thinking about signing up for a partial program know what it's about and what happens in a typical day there.

In the morning I wake up at 7:30 am. The driver to the hospital picks me up generally around 7:50 am or 8:00 am. It depends on if I am the only patient he is picking up or if there are more people on my side of the county that also need a ride to the hospital. There was a week last time I came to, what will henceforth be called 'partial', that the driver had to pick up so many kids that I was picked up at 7:00 am. The driver also takes us all home. This time around I am getting home at around 4:00 pm. The latest I've been home from partial is 6:30 pm. Now you see what I mean when I call it "Day Camp."

We ultimately get there around 9:00 am. Everyone fills out a sheet that asks questions such as, "How are you feeling this morning?" "Do you have thoughts of self-harm? Hurting others?" "Rate on a scale of 1-10 your depression, anxiety, anger, and hopefulness." "Are you taking your medicine as prescribed?" "Are you using illegal drugs?" "What illegal drugs did you use and how much?" "What is your goal to accomplish while you are here today?" I can't remember all of the other questions, but that sums up the sheet pretty well. You can infer other questions from that list. After everyone turns in their sheets we sit in a circle and discuss our answers. They say that it is optional but there is such a push to "share" that you feel guilty if you don't answer the questions on the sheet in front of the entire group so you end up "volunteering."

At 10:00 am we transition to Nursing Group. They take our vitals and have us do an activity that is supposed to introduce to what we are going to be learning that day. Sometimes they have us participate in icebreakers so we all get to know each other if there are new people in the group. Other times we play a game that tries to make a passive aggressive point foreshadowing what will be learning that day. I will discuss that in more detail throughout the days.

At 11:00 am we get a smoke break for those of us that smoke. We can get pop or candy from the vending machines. We can talk to the social worker alone if we need a private session. It's also the time that the psychiatrist usually shows up and talks to all of us individually about our medicine and side effects. It's a very chill half hour because the first two hours can be very intense for a lot of the patients there. Many of us are introverts and don't like talking. Many of us also have never met others like us so we get overwhelmed by the idea that there is a living person you can talk to that understands your situation.

At 11:30 the doctor has left for his private practice office or another hospital to see more patients and we get to have Art Therapy. Art Therapy is my personal favorite time of the day. You can listen to music or paint or write or draw, anything that you want to do. They expect you to get your emotions out in a creative way and they have everything and anything you could ask for there. Oil, charcoal, crayons, easels with pre-printed pictures on them so you can paint inside the lines if you aren't the artist that blank easels seem to expect you to be.

12:30 until 1:00 pm is lunch time. It is generally cafeteria food. We have Sloppy Joes on Mondays, Toddler Tuesdays (which is basically macaroni and cheese and tater tots). Wednesday and Friday is pretty random, but Thursdays are tacos most of the time. It's just like the food schedule in Elementary School. Same thing every week.

1:00-2:00 is what I call "packet time." The social worker gives us a giant packet of information based on what the activity in nursing group foreshadowed about and we take turns going around the table reading it. I've seen packets that are a good 20 pages long. To be fair though, those packets tend to have tables for a "sleep diary" or "food tracker" or something of the sort so it's not all just straight up words to read. We have discussions throughout it but we usually save our stories for reflection group, which is coming up next.

2:00-2:30 pm is reflection group. The nurses give us a topic and we need to write in our journals (a blank composition notebook they give us our first day). When we are done, we discuss not exactly what we wrote but go through the common themes and decide what we should go over tomorrow based on that. That is really nice because then we are all learning what we actually need to learn.

2:30-3:30 pm is closing group. We fill out the same sheets as opening group except instead of "What's your goal for the day?" they ask "What is your goal for the night?" and ask you the next day if you fulfilled it. We discuss the day and if we liked it or if there was something we wish we had gotten to. The social worker always asks "Are there any closing thoughts, comments, or emotions before we close?" and if not we sometimes get out early. Then the ride home begins and depending on how far away your house is and how many people are in the car with you, you get home anywhere from 4 until 6 (although I've heard of longer).

Counseling Day Camp is basically inpatient for those who don't qualify and allows you to go home to your cats or dogs or hamsters and sleep in your own bed. I have been inpatient enough times to remember what it is like and make comparisons between the two. The only true differences is that during inpatient you have a lot more free time, not as many groups, better food, and you sleep in a hospital bed with a roommate or two.

I honestly don't know which one I'd prefer. Check back next week for the discussions of my answers to some of the questions, some of the worksheets we get, and an introduction to some of the people in my group.

See you guys next week!

-Andrew.