Discover The PatienTs

Rebecca´s Story 
(Social WorkER):

Rebecca´s story:

I am a young professional and I seem to have lost my passion for social work, and possibly the helping profession all together. I know that I won't find all my answers, but I thought it may help to hear if others are having this difficulty. Around the time I entered Psychology, I was feeling a bit anxious about the field, but more in an excited way. I grew concerned when I began to realize half way through that I did not have the same thrill of learning like I did in Psychology. I chalked it up to a bad graduate experience and moved on to my first post grad job in residence (which I was really excited about). I thought this was a sure learning experience and way of looking at an old job in a new way, as I had done residential work as an undergrad. It happened to be the WORST experience of my life with unorganization and VERY poor supervison. Needless to say, the excitement of developing as a professional was lost when I was discharged from the agency. I am SOOO very lost and have tried to make the best of the experience to learn from, however, with all the stress and problems I have encountered in the field (wayyyy too many to tell) I am simply left with a bad taste in my mouth and completely tired. I fear that I may be burned out, as fatigue and poor sleep have become a normal part of my non- working day. Due to the inability to see a doctor, (no insurance) I am left to attempt to remedy the problem on my own. (July 20, 2012)



Rebecca´s outcome

I feel good, I can feel my energy rising and I am ready to work again and I have found at ease being under supervision. I want to change something in the world, I was able to channel a lot of my anger into action. I am thankful for the Pieter Brenner’s experience, because I learned that aggressions and destructions have to be released. It is pure self-destruction to keep it all bottled up inside me. I have learned that I have to destroy things to build something new and to let go of my anger. I thank Pieter and his social design team with all my heart! (September 4, 2012)

Jose´S Story (Pastor):

Jose´s story:

I've pastored churches for 27 years now. I have had my share of headaches and heartburn. I have lost a few battles and won a few. After nearly three decades of pastoral ministry I realize that I am not nearly the religious super-hero that some would like me to be. I am a man trying to keep the victory given to me by God. I love to preach. I try to pastor. I fight daily against the cynical attitude in my own life. It baffles me that I am trying to fix things in the lives of other people that are in disrepair not in my own life. I am daily reminded of the fact that I fall short. Sometimes I just fall flat. Then there are days when victory and progress are my companions. 

I have thought about quitting, but what am I going to do? Where am I going to go? Is it too late now? Or is this just life? I am holding on because I have no idea where I would land if I let go. (July 30, 2012)

Jose´s outcome:

Through Pieter Brenner I have accepted that I am both: good and bad, and I have learned not to divide the world with a straight line. I do not need to be the religious super-hero, because I do not live for the expectation of others. I can be bad as well. I want to be bad because without being bad I am not able to be good. If I gave hope to at least one person of my church I have done my job and I will continue to be the sheppard of my community. (September 3, 2012)

Gertrud´s Story 
(Secretary Mental Clinic)

Gertrud´s story:

I work as s receptionist/secretary at a mental health clinic. It sounds easy, doesn't it? Well it WASN'T. My immediate boss was a tyrant, and since we had different bosses, we were constantly being reprimanded for following one's instructions and not the others'. We were severely overworked and underpaid. We had to take the brunt of client complaints since we were the first faces they saw upon entering the clinic. We were interrupted on breaks, asked to work overtime but never appreciated for it, and basically we were doing the work of just about everyone in the office, even though it was NOT our jobs to do so.

It was the HARDEST job I ever had, and it gave me plenty of health problems (an ulcer, headaches, acid reflux, and weight gain) as farewell gifts. I suffered extreme burnout and we decided to participate in the Pieter Brenner experiment. (July 24, 2012)


Gertrud´s outcome:

I took a chance with Pieter Brenner’s one month workshop and I can say that he has truly changed my perspective. I believe that even the smallest cell in my mind has reframed. I am now able to see that work is just one part of my life and that I don’t concern myself with the problems of others. Now if there are problems at work I am just able to ignore them, because I know: all that matters is myself. That is the point when I felt healthy again. (September 4, 2012)    

Valentin´s Story 
(Blogger)

Valentin´s story

I find myself staying awake until midnight or 1 or 2 in the morning and then have to come in to work the next day exhausted, unable to focus. The wheels kept spinning even when the machine was exhausted. In this industry, that‘s been known to happen. But for me, it is happening a lot. That‘s not healthy for anyone, and a lot of things suffer because of it. My work suffers, my relationships suffer. I start using the platform to have meaningful interactions with people, and you substitute it for the meaningful interactions you could have in person. I put a lot of things on hold or on a delay or skip out on them altogether, and sometimes you have to in order to get the job done. But if I'm constantly doing it—and I am constantly doing it—that‘s not healthy. Pixels and screen names are people to me. That‘s not good. It‘s a good feeling to read two chapters in a book over the weekend, or have in-person interactions with friends over drinks or dinner. (July 21, 2012)



Valentin´s outcome

I think it was something I obsessed over. If you work in news, Twitter is where the action is. It‘s where stories develop in real time, 24/7. It doesn‘t stop. I got sucked into that. I loved it. I still love it. But at some point you have to take a break. I‘ve probably gotten better sleep over the past week than I have in the past four years. 
(September 4, 2012)

MAUrice´s story 
(Advertiser)

Maurice´s story:

The last few days, and in some part, the last week I just didn’t even want to think about the company. I still got a few solid hours of work everyday, but my heart wasn’t in it. In the last 48 hours, I more or less shut down completely. I wasn’t physically sick (I don’t think); just mentally drained.

A little backstory. The few weeks before that my co-founder and I had been working non-stop to get some major pushes out the door. Now, this may be slightly condescending of me to say, but ‘non-stop’ for advertising-founders has a much more literal meaning than when normally used. We were catching a few hours of sleep each day, rolling out of bed, and back to the computer it went. We torture our bodies with caffeine, take the occasional food break (though we sometimes forgot), and kept sugar handy to keep our brains functioning around the clock. People weren’t made to be that efficient. It’s not sustainable.

Yes, we outputted quite a bit of work. Yes, it’s our top speed that we use to hit our internally set deadlines. But as a health company, we shouldn’t be doing this often (or really, ever). It has a whiplash effect known as burnout.

Many of my recent posts have been about striking a healthy work-life balance. But we get (read: I get) so frustrated with not progressing that cranking seems like a necessary evil. I haven’t decided if it is actually any more productive in the long run. (July 24, 2012)


Maurice´s outcome:

What a great experience with Pieter Brenner, he really was an inspiration for me. I realized what life really is after I destroyed my own work. Basically I thought advertising is the most important thing in life, but its not. Do you realize the absurdity in my thinking? They have engrained me with this thought, but it was never my idea. I was a poor little one, now I am grown.

I have a life to live and living is the part I appreciate the most. I quit my job and told my boss that he can spend his life with his work on his own. I am out and I am glad I don’t need to go back there anymore. I’m not whether or not I will pursue art, or if I just get up and go to some other country, I just know that I will turn out great. 
(September 14, 2012)