In any situation, it can be nerve-wracking to be "the new guy".  The first few weeks on the job as an ASAP family therapist are no exception.  It is daunting to learn all the new names, the new protocols, the new acronyms, and to learn exactly what it is that ASAP strives to accomplish.  We came to our new positions with only a beginning understanding of the work ASAP does, but as the weeks have gone by, our appreciation and respect for every aspect of the ASAP program has grown.
 
First and foremost, ASAP is a collaboration, a collaboration between organizations across Tennessee that share the same vision - caring professionals working together to give kids a chance to grow up to be healthy, happy adults with a positive outlook and a sense of purpose in the world.  One thing we love about ASAP is the freedom we have to work with families in their homes, to assess what the issues are and address them, whatever the family's needs may be.  We work with parents, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We are able to do whatever we can to make a difference, and that freedom feels good.  We love that, with ASAP, we do not have to worry about insurance companies.  We have the freedom to keep working in a home until the issues are resolved and the family has achieved a system of functioning that works for them.  In a nutshell, what ASAP does is provide each family we serve with a learning experience customized to meet their individual needs, so that they can go forward and spread goodness and love to future generations.
 
In 1965, Hal David penned a song entitled, What the World Needs Now Is Love.  The composer wrote, "It's [love's] the only thing that's there's just too little of."  Forty-four years later, this message still rings true.  Often, there is also just too little support available.  For some, support means to provide for, by supplying necessities and money.  Support can also mean to hold in place, to keep from falling, slipping, or even sinking.  Our families often express their gratitude for ASAP's support, helping them decrease the number of falls and slips they encounter.  Like support, preservation can be defined a number of ways.  For us, preservation means the keeping of something intangible intact.  A family is a tangible entity and also an intangible system of individuals bonded to each other.  Love is intangible.  In our work with families, we have found love to be an underlying sense of oneness, well worth supporting and preserving.  This is what ASAP does - ASAP helps each family hold on to the love that bonds them together, a love that is universal, that possesses integrity, kindness, support, ease, and fervent character.  And what the world needs now is love.


Katie Webb, LMSW and Roderick Vester, M.A.
ASAP West Region Family Therapists