From parole officer to full time biz

I was recently listening to this podcast where ex homicide detective Gary Jubelin was interviewing another ex homicide detective who he started his career with at the police academy.

I Catch Killers

They both agreed that back then, they entered the force thinking this would be their life long career.

At first they didn’t want to take a single day off as it was all new and exciting, they got to see the kind of stuff most people only see on TV.

About 10 years in they became less excited as they were starting to see things they’d already seen before.

They became bogged down by being abused, having weapons pointed at them, their lives threatened and having nightmares about their crime scenes.

It was no longer a job they wanted to go to every day.

Policies and procedures changed, more paperwork piled up, it became more of an admin role than an exciting one.

They found themselves 20 years in with complex post traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), substance abuse issues, broken relationships and a shell of their former selves.

As I listened to this podcast, I’m nodding away as it resonates for my own career as a parole officer.

In 2007 after studying a degree in psychology and masters in forensic psychology, I joined London Probation as a probation officer.

I can remember my first day so clearly, the excitement of 160 of us freshies in a room for the first day of 2 years of training which included a degree in criminal justice.

I honestly loved the job, working with serious gang crime in a dark and nasty part of London where people thought nothing of stabbing you in McDonalds because they wanted your necklace.

I moved to Sydney and did the same job there for a bit before moving to Perth.

I couldn’t get a Government job on a working holiday visa so I went to the darkest place I could find in a non Government organisation working with clients with suicidal ideation and severe and persistent mental illness – schizophrenia, bipolar, dissociative identity disorder, CPTSD and often experiencing comorbidity with addictions, homelessness and criminality.

When I became a permanent resident I got back into working in corrections and I loved being back in the game.

So my career has now spanned 18 years of working at the pointy end of all kinds of dark human behaviour while the whole time I also ran my business coaching, doing energy work and teaching reiki – often working 7 days a week for years.

I did quit full time work to do my biz full time 2016-2018 but I really missed my job and being part of a team.

I’m over it now.

I knew I needed to leave before it broke me (after several periods of burnout over the years).

I’ve massively appreciated the work I’ve done in Corrections and mental health, it’s been a huge learning opportunity and I’ve seen sides of society and people that a lot of the world have no idea even exists.

Murderers, child abusers, sex offenders, addicts… no matter what you may think of them, they’re all people too.

I’ve met thousands of people in my career… very very few of them have ever made me feel like true evil exists out there.

It does, but in my experience it’s very rare.

What’s way more common is children being exposed to abuse, family violence, criminal behaviour, trauma and substance abuse – I’ve listened to stories from clients who were given their first shot of meth or heroin when they were 7, drinking the dregs of booze from their parents parties at 3 years old.

No matter what you think, any one of us can end up in a situation where we’re addicted to something, jobless, homeless…

Many times people have asked me “what do you want to work with junkies and homeless people for?”

My answer is always “because in a different set of circumstances, that could be you or me.”

The world needs more people to be kind to others no matter who they are.

It’s time for me to take my skills and kindness to a place where I can be more effective – where I can spend more time with people and not be spending 80% of my time doing admin.

The job has changed so much, my heart isn’t in it anymore.

This week I finally said goodbye to the world of corrections and working in Government.

In fact today, 21 March, is officially my last day.

It’s also Hot Fiancé’s birthday and our anniversary, so it’s a pretty great day to wrap up an 18 year career!

Technically I’ve been on leave since January and it’s really interesting to see the positive impact on my nervous system.

No more living in survival mode.

No more working 7 days a week – unless I want to.

No more being lied to all day long.

No more red tape.

No more trying to help people change when they give zero fucks about changing