I messed up and I have noone to talk to...

I am desperate and I have noone to talk to, so I will ask here. I work in mental health services and at the end of last week I called a potential client to schedule an appointment. The appoint. was for her daughter but instead I said it was for her son. I said "My name is such and such and I am trying to reach Ms. X in reference to her child. I understand he has such and such difficulties." The form where I had their information written was covered so I did not see it was a she not a he...She asked me to call today since she was busy last week and when I called told me she wanted to speak with my supervisor. I said OK but since supervisor was not in, I called back saying she wasn't in and I wanted to schedule the appoint. with her and her daughter. Long story short, she told me I was unprofessional and what I did wrong (not read the info sheet prooerly, caller her daughter a "he" , then said her daughter's name wrong although I am pretty sure I pronounced it right). I feel terrible as I normally am careful and don't make such mistakes but I was really tired when I called and I wanted to schedule them to come in. Now I'm afraid she'll call my supervisor (although she said she will not do it and chances are they will not even come in - not only because of me but also another reason I can't disclose) So, what do I do now? Tell my supervisor about my mistake or hope this person won't call...I need to call this person again with information she requested. I know I made a mistake, but really my intention was good..sometimes I get overworked and make mistakes Someone please help me. What do I do? I have noone to support me and I feel like crap.

you said it yourself right here

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"A junkie is someone who uses their body to tell society that something is wrong.” - Stella Adler

Yes, thanks, but it is hard as I do not know what to do. Do I let it fly and hope for the best or to I bring it up myself?
I feel like a total mess sometimes...and what makes it harder is that I have nobody to talk to. When shit like this happens I feel like I want to go back home. I do what I do because I like to help kids, but when I need help there is nobody to help me. I have no friends/social support whatsoever. I used to read in books about "social support" and, as a foreign citizen whose first language is not English, I did not know at first what this meant. It was a term that sounded so abstract although of course, we have this concept back home as well, and it was only after I experienced what lack of social support is that I put the concept with the words together.
My family is away, my friends are in my country (although everyone went on their own path, nor am I good at keeping in touch) and I feel alone and lonely.
At work, everything and everybody is so competitive..when things like today happen, it almost feels like "what's the point?" "what's the point of overworking myself? what's the point of being away from my family? what's the point of being here if I am not happy?" it sucks, I know I'll get over it...but when something hits me, it hits me really hard. such a slap in the face.
thanks for reading

Hey, its a minor mistake. Its really fine. The woman completely over-reacted. I used to work in the medical services and I made far worse mistakes. Your supervisor will understand, its a very small mistake to make.

it was a mistake and you corrected it with the woman, she needs to chill out.
she sounds liek she could be a bitch so i'd beat her to the punch and let your supervisor know what happened and that you dealt with it, just incase she does call.

end of the day, they can't fire you for that and your boss would be able to deal with her call, should she call, easier knowing what had happened.

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Thanks. I know I won't get fired...I am actually a graduate student, so the work I do is part of my research assistanship deal. I know that my supervisor will not like it though. I'm thinking to share this with another grad student to get their opinion, but then again it's hard to trust anyone here..they'll be the first to slap me in the face. I will also need to call the woman later on to give her a referral after my supervisor suggests one. I'm thinking to tell her privately rather than at the clinical meeting with everyone in. Thanks for your support.

i know that if i've messed up or have an issue with someone at work, i'll let my boss know right away so that if anyone comes back to her she'll have the details on the issue and can deal with it. i have to deal with our amaerican office and they treat us like crap. i had a big problem with one of the managers who was really causing problems and then the director called me and asked who i report to, so i told her. i right away let my boss in on the situation, even forwarded her the emails that detailed the issues so that when the american director called she had reference and back up. my boss appreciates that so that she can a. stand up for her staff when needed. b. give guidance on how i may have handled things differently and c. tell the yanks to fuck off! in this case it was c.!

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"On the train of life..... Perfection is the final destination; although one must go through hell to get there"
~~carefulcarpenter


Ease your spiritual tensions with honesty and self responsibility. The ego suffers for the desire to be perfect and blameless. It would show great balance on your part if you accepted the responsibility for your mistakes and asked for assistence from higher authority. This works in your physical/ egoic realm as well as the spiritual realm. By revealing your humanity you will make mistakes and you will feel insecure; this insecurity can become a destructive force eventually if you don't bring it into the open. This is what you would be doing to heal yourself as well as help others--by asking for help yourself. Isn't this what you want your clients to do?

Thanks for asking us for help, BTW. We're all in this life together, dear, including our fears and shortcomings.

Sophia_

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Marerophilia:
A depth of love that youth can seldom appreciate or communicate;
A love that never can die for it is a wild seed living inside us, and it is what it is;
Love: that which bonds the reality of one's being to the mystery of the unknown;
Wildflowers: evidence revealed."
~~carefulcarpenter

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this.

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to the winch, wench.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotty wokker and laugh about it all you want. you wont be laughing when my friends dos the fuck out of your hard drive.

i can only add to the chorus as the lovely debaser said so.

we all make mistakes. not to mention the woman is a loony bitch and/or she had a bad day herself, full of frustrations and your little minor error made her snap and take it out on you.

don't worry about it. let your super know and when you do reiterate you apologised and made steps to correct it and that from now on your clearing your desk so you can attend to problems with all the pertinent facts.

Of course, we all make mistakes; the true sense of this comes when we forgive others for lapses of human expression. We can label the "other" as "bitchy", "arrogant", "mean", "selfish", etc. but all that is doing really is avoiding the fact that we too, could be that way--given the situation of conditions which would trigger our human nature.




"When I look at the sky I see my spirit flying freely as a cloud adrift; when I look at the sunset I see myself gracefully dying into the sea; when I see my reflection in the eyes of grace, I see a rainbow--with lightning strikes piercing my soul; and the thunder cloud that sets me free"
~~carefulcarpenter

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Marerophilia:
A depth of love that youth can seldom appreciate or communicate;
A love that never can die for it is a wild seed living inside us, and it is what it is;
Love: that which bonds the reality of one's being to the mystery of the unknown;
Wildflowers: evidence revealed."
~~carefulcarpenter