advice on a client

[Joni ?s Chachi]

Hi all,
I have a client who is 6 treatments in and is doing well, but the one thing he wants to treat I am convinced wont be overcome until he can sort out anger/ stress levels. It has taken him alot to come for treatments, being 'completely out of his comfort zone' and for this reason has refused the ideas of councellor or seeing ANYONE else. The treatment does help with this aspect but I feel he needs something else and have run out of ideas. He gets plenty of excercise and is outdoors allday. We have discussed ares of his work and I have tried to suggest changes he could make but to him they are not viable options.
Should I give the treatments more of a chance to work, he does feel alot calmer and socially relaxed but this is just the tip of the iceburg, our treatments are now once every two weeks which in a couple more treatments I would like to reduce to once a month.
Would be so greatful for any advice.
Bubbles

 

[dearjonny]

Hi Bubbles
What kind of treatments you give? Is it something that works on emotions? Everything to start with makes a difference. Do you feel your treatment can resolve his deep issues? I am only asking this because it seems that you are holding doubts about it yourself.
You already know the answers, you say you have run out of ideas, maybe he has got the help he needed from you. He is feeling better. Is he there to stretch your imagination and in doing so you go to next level yourself? Trust youself, you do seem to know the answer.
x

 

[Slider8]

Hi Bubbles, it sounds to me as if your treatments are already making a difference to this client as you say he is feeling calmer and has got used to coming in for his treatments. You say that it took a lot for him to start treatment in the first place so he has already made a really positive step.

You hadn't mentioned if the client himself said he needed to do more - just that you felt he did? As therapists we are often driven by our own needs to help people and sometimes we have to remember that very often a clients issues have developed over a long period of time, for a combination of reasons and our treatments are unlikely to provide a quick fix.

Your client has taken his first step but it may be some time, (if ever), before he is ready to try more or other things. This is often frustrating for us as therapists but it sounds like you are doing a great job and hopefully your treatments will continue to improve things for your client and maybe, gradually he will be ready to consider your other suggestions in the future. Tracey

 

[GarethC]

Surely by seeing you he is working on his stress levels?

Mental health is a SLOW thing to recover from (16yrs & I'm still dealing with it myself!), 6 weeks (I assume his treatments are weekly) isn't really that long to change someones way of thinking.

I'd keep up the good work at de-stressing him & maybe suggest again in a couple of months the use of a counselor once his anger & stress have reduced some more. Or maybe look for some anger management courses in his area & recommend them in a few months. He may feel more comfortable with a group of people in the same boat, than one to one.

Just keep doing what you're doing, he's obviously getting benefits from your treatments.

(FYI I've asked for counselling for anger & stress too. Was eventually referred after months of nagging my GP, only to be told by the counselor I'll get 2 appointments in person than a few phone appointments & that they don't deal with anger issues. In other words getting counselling is easier said than done!
You also need to be of a level of mental health before you receive counselling as it can be very triggering, he may need therapy such as CBT first (which I personally highly recommend). He may not even need counselling in the long run.)