Letter of recommendation

I was going through some old files, when I came across this (fake) letter of recommendation that Todd's boss wrote for him when he was applying to the MFT program at Utah State. I thought you might enjoy it. I'm so grateful for a husband who has a sense of humor :o)

Todd has been affiliated with our agency since May 2000, first as a practicum student and then as an employee. He has worked in a variety of roles: as a co-facilitator of a children's group, as a receptionist, and as a co-presenter of a parenting group.

I have been impressed with Todd's professional progress, since he had so far to go to meet minimum standards as a human being. He has consistently been able to set his goals low and meet most of them. His colleagues agree that Todd excels at mediocrity, except for those times when he lapses.

The ****** Institute has a rigidly enforced substance abuse policy and, in spite of occasional relapses, Todd continues to attend his meetings. To my knowledge, he has never been caught selling drugs or alcohol to minors, though there is some suspicion that he supplements his income by dealing with adults.

Now to address some of Todd's personal liabilities. While clients do not state that they dislike Todd, he has had to change numerous slashed tires on his car following groups he has led. He has shown a remarkable ability in such circumstances to contain his crying and tantrum behavior to the sidewalk.

Todd has proven to be well-accepted in staff social circles, especially for the variety of revealing costumes he wears to such gatherings. The only time this caused any serious problem was when he inadvertently came to a staff meeting when, in fact, the meeting was with a grieving family that had recently lost several loved ones in a tragic car accident. The rumors that Todd had anything to do with that accident have proven false so far.

I'm sure that if you accepted Todd into your program you would have an interesting time trying to understand him. However, if you actually managed to do so, I think you'd find a warm, compassionate, caring person beneath that veneer to hostility and anger. At least I hope you would; we have had no such luck in that area.

To let you know how far Todd has come :o), last night he came home with a certificate signed by the corporate president of his company, and a letter commending him for his excellent customer service, along with a check for $100 for being such a great employee. I'm sure proud of him because he has worked his butt off for the past three months, taking care of all the emotional needs of 15 unstable teenage girls and their parents. Last week, they finally hired another therapist, so his team size is now down to a more manageable 10.

*oops, I spoke too soon. When I told Todd about this post, he told me he's already gotten two new girls this week, so his team size is up to 12. Sigh.