May 16, 2014

May 16, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader, 

 

Today my wife Bonnie and I both got called with the wonderful news that we are  hired for the jobs for which we were interviewed not too long ago. This is great news. Bonnie got a job offer for employment-eligibility worker and with me they are checking out my references, but they already wanted to inform me that I am hired. In my new job I will be a case-manager of individuals who transition from prison into society. I will give groups in which I teach life skills to get people job-ready and help clients gain access to resources. My main task is to educate people about the possibilities that are open to them. It is paying much better than my current part-time jobs and this is financially very fortunate. I will no longer have to work on the weekends and finally will be covered by insurance. After my references have been checked out, I will sign my contract. 

This means that will be my second and last semester as a part-time Psychology Instructor at Butte College. It was a great experience, but it didn’t pay well and there was not much chance that I would get hired full-time. Also, my part-time job as a Mental Health Worker at the transitional group home with mentally ill clients was okay for the time being, but my salary was very low.  I am glad to be moving on to a better paid position for which I am qualified. 

I was having a thought about my teaching of Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB). As the originator, I am and remain the only expert. Furthermore, the only way to teach it is to insist on it, even though this has often led to social disqualification. I am now for the most part capable of avoiding that and recent events are the proof of that. Although it is certainly true that many people still reject me, I no longer feel so rejected and I basically don’t care anymore about those who reject me. I seem to have developed a ‘thicker skin’ and often find myself privately thinking very negative thoughts about other people.  This used to be a problem for me, but it no longer is. It is quite nice to be able to think covertly instead of overtly and to not get in trouble for saying something I couldn't keep to myself. I don’t experience myself as negative when I think of how negative other people are. To the contrary, I feel much, much better by thinking and by writing that.