What am I responsible for?
January 18th, 2008 by Alexander KohlI do I encourage my clients to recognise that they play a part in their own healing, the responsibility for making a difference isn’t totally mine.
I do not really have a good answer for it, because I am not a health practitioner myself. But I know how important that is.
Here is what comes to mind:
If you are having bad experiences with people that do not want to take responsibility for their own healing, then you might need to build clarity on both your expectations, before your start treating them.
That is an excellent way to build trusting relationships and to weed out the clients that do not have the right fit for you.
You can even use that in your marketing and offer a free assessment for new clients. Assess their problem, but also whether they are willing to play a part in their own healing.
You might lose some clients that way, but gain a whole lot more by word-of-mouth from your satisfied clients.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 am
This is a really tough one and it usually involves looking at the deeper issues underneath why you feel you need to work longer on someone. It is usually an indication that there is some sort of counter-transference going on in the relationship.
-The person reminds you of their mother so you want to do a better job
-You think you need to work longer on them because you can’t ‘get out all of the pain’
-You think by working on them longer they will like you better and come again or refer others
Working on people longer than their alloted time in a massage setting can also be confusing to the client as they don’t know if they should pay you more, tip you more. It violates the boundaries that are set up to protect you and the client.
These are just a few ideas/examples but the thing is for each therapist to clarify this for themselves. It isn’t always just simple.
Julie