I recently had a conversation with a client about how she felt very shamed for wanting to get to know her psychiatrist a bit more.
I have often pondered this myself once I began my career in the mental health field. We are told through our studies that you are not supposed to self disclose to clients, let alone have a mutual and open conversation where both parties ask questions and receive answers.
I always thought this was very silly.
How are we supposed to ask people personal questions, questions about their trauma, who their relationships are with, what their sexual history is or substance use history is while we stay silent?
If a client asks me something I don't usually hesitate to answer. There are only a few times where I might ask "why would me answering this question help you?" It is the responsibility of the therapist to know when a question might not be appropriate to answer. Boundaries are great to have but not to the detriment of the connection between you and your client.
My job as a therapist is to build a space where it is safe for my clients to be vulnerable with me and learn to trust me. My job is to help guide my clients but to guide someone you must first build a rapport. We can't build a rapport without mutual trust and connection.
Connection is a double sided collaboration.
As therapists I feel we have a duty to build a connection and if that means providing some vulnerability to our clients so they feel more secure than I do not see why we should not actively build on these engagements.
Kommentare