By Bethany Hoppe
All of my life I
knew what I wanted to do. And that
was to help people. Growing up
with Spina Bifida, much of my playtime was spent pretending I was either a
surgeon or a nurse. My dolls and
stuffed animals were my patients, with my mother’s living room as the hospital
ward. Back in the day of glass
I.V. bottles, after some of my own hospital stays, nurses would send me home
with a clean empty I.V. set without the needle for me to play with. Raggedy Ann was usually the one hooked
up. From time to time, my favorite
stuffed dolphin had a line of saline taped to her fin to revive her (little did
I know then how apropos that was).
I was incredibly elaborate and detailed in my playtime. It was real to me!
As I prepared to
go to university, I was fortunate enough to qualify for OVR (Occupational
Vocational Rehabilitation) support for my education; a government incentive to
pay for an associates or bachelors degree education for people with
disabilities. Even though my high
school grades were not the greatest, I knew that I could focus and learn. I also knew that with my own lifetime
of hospital experiences, I had unparalleled bedside manner, unwavering ethics,
and a first hand understanding of the hospital experience from the other side
of the bed rails.
During my
initial OVR intake interview, I confidently stated that I would be declaring
myself as a pre-nursing major, with the intention of graduating with an RN’s
license. I wanted to specialize in
neo-natal, pediatrics, or ET nursing – based on logistics – even though I
secretly wanted in that O.R. (operating room). I will never forget the expression of the OVR counselor,
tapping his fingers together in a point, and dully telling me flat out,
“No. We won’t fund that. You’re not hirable.”
There was no
inquiry into why I wanted to become a nurse. There was no consideration that I came from a family of
nurses. My mother, my aunt, my
sister, and now my niece on my mother’s side of the family…more are on my father’s
side of the family. We are
nurses. I was devastated and
angry. When I went on to my next
occupational goal of elementary education that also got a resounding “No!”
In his opinion, I
would not be hirable in that field either. It was predetermined that I would not be able to control a
classroom. Here it is important to
point out that if my dolls and stuffed animals weren’t “in the hospital,”
during playtime…they were lined up in the “classroom.”
Eventually I
landed a green light from OVR when I declared as a psychology major, which was
first hotly argued that I should actually be a social work major instead. This battle I won by digging my
proverbial stiletto heels into the ground and not breaking eye contact. I later switched to Communications and
graduated with a bachelor’s in speech communications, and later earned my
master’s in communication studies.
Fast
forward to
today. I am now a seasoned
university lecturer, teaching communications, public speaking, voice
diction,
small group, and gender classes to packed classrooms. I love my work
and I adore my students. Despite this job satisfaction, for
which I am tremendously grateful, I still think about helping people in a
hospital setting as a nurse.
Over the last
decade or more, I have begun to incorporate alternative medicine and holistic
health into my life for both healing and prevention, alongside traditional
medicine. And there I have found a
way to meet my inner passion to help people become better: Spiritual Counseling.
In addition to
teaching at the university full time, I have begun a consulting business where
I work with clients to help them discover what is at the core of their illness,
their roadblocks to success, and even their quest to spiritually recover from
all of the religious and social constructs impressed upon us since childhood,
through a spiritual or metaphysical lens.
It is not psychology, as I briefly majored in. It is Life Coaching.Guided conversation – communication – that I did major in. In addition to my regular education, I
am also a student of Metaphysical Counseling.
I work with
clients in private and confidential one-hour sessions during which I
incorporate meditative and relaxation techniques, as well as verbal and visual exercises
that help people reclaim their personal power, and revive their True Self. Together, we discover and state what
the deep-seeded issues, emotional traumas, and limiting belief systems are that
are preventing them from enjoying a full life of health, prosperity, and
balance at their most optimal level.
The goal is assisting clients to re-state and articulate affirmations
that impress into their consciousness new tracks of positive thinking and
intention, combined with breathing exercises, short meditative techniques, career
and assertive voice training, and visualizations.
So,
while I may not be rushing around a hospital ward administering medicine and
beside care…I collaborate with clients to help them heal themselves at the core
of their injury, their trauma, their coping mechanisms, and their self-negating
belief systems.
I
specialize in working with women with disabilities – because in my opinion –
they are the least represented, most misunderstood and under-utilized
population in the United States.
Women in general are overwhelmed with unrealistic expectations impressed
on us through the media, social constructs, and often times, religious
institutions. Women with
disabilities are facing that and so much more.
My
joy and newfound work is helping them heal their self-image, and the extremely
misguided, incorrect image society tries to place upon them. I am a “veteran” woman with a lifelong
disability, who through grace, support, and an extraordinary amount of personal
searching, has visited and returned from the dark side of the moon.
Now
I want to help others over the hurdles and barriers that aren’t exactly about
curb cuts and elevators. I want to
help women over the hurdles and barriers concerning the inner self – the first
and most looming access issue that needs to be faced.
Bethany
A. Hoppe is available for
in-person private and confidential consultations at her office located
in the
Synergy Holistic Wellness Center in Murfreesboro, TN. Or she is
available for virtual Skype sessions. To learn more about Bethany’s
work, or
to book an appointment, visit www.bethany-hoppe.com. You can also keep up with her on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/ hoppeconsultingservices
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