Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/68012
CLIENT ENCOUNTERS Give simple instructions for homework or awareness exercises designed to help reinforce what has been addressed during the session. KNOW THEIR LIMITS Do not overload them with information because you feel the need to "really help them," or ask more of them then they are able to give. In other words, meet them, work with them, and most importantly accept them in the present moment. IT'S ALL ABOUT THEM Remember that this is their time and not yours. Each time you decide to speak, ask yourself if what you are about to say is more about you than about them. If so, practice silence and stillness. For many of us, this is really hard and, if so, that is all the more reason to devote focused attention to it. REVIEW: BEGINNING OF SESSION Include time in your session for processing the previous week's progress and allow clients appropriate time to report what they felt during the week. Note any improvement, no matter how slight, and point it out without overemphasis. Remember that people in pain often function by dissociating and rarely have very good self-monitoring mechanisms in place. Teaching them better awareness skills is very important and should be a part of every treatment session. Be wary of those who have been to many therapists, especially others in your area of expertise, and complain at length about never having experienced any real change. The problem here will surely lie with the client rather than all those therapists. REVIEW: END OF SESSION Take time at the end of each session to review any perceived progress, no matter how small. Give simple instructions for homework or awareness exercises designed to help reinforce what has been addressed during the session. PROGRESS REVIEW LIMITS Have a built-in time frame for a comprehensive review of the sessions' progress. This might occur at the third or fourth session. This review process is critical and will help the client express his concerns about how the therapy is progressing. If the client is truly unhappy at this stage, you must be prepared to end therapy after this session or even before actually doing any further work. Be ready to do this as cleanly and honestly as possible. SAYING GOOD-BYE Handle your closure session with as much sensitivity and lack of defensiveness as possible. This may be quite difficult, as the client may become aggressive and very critical (even nastily personal) at this stage for a number of not-so-obvious reasons. TRANSFERENCE Understand clearly that their anger, when it comes, is seldom really about you and the inherently artificial therapeutic process. Look at it in a larger context as some projection of frustration or dissatisfaction with others either in the client's past or present. Parental projections are ubiquitous in all therapeutic relationships. COUNTERTRANSFERENCE Be on the lookout for what you project onto your client. Failure to do this may create emotionally charged issues that undermine safety in the room. SO, COMPLAIN TO ME Encourage your clients to feel really free to complain. This may be the only time in their day that someone focuses their full attention on them and gives them permission to vent. This really builds trust and shifts focus to where it always belongs—on them. GOOD CLOSURE End your sessions as well as you can and try to learn each time you do so. By not saying good-bye properly, you will have in some way failed in your role as their therapist, and this we all should wish to avoid at all costs. worked in Atlanta, Georgia, prior to his death December 5, 2008. He blended his music and Rolfing—his two intellectual passions—in wonderfully expressive and illustrative ways. We're sad to let you know this feature is his final article we had waiting in the wings to publish. For more information on his legacy, visit his site www.idarolfsbrahms.com. Raymond J. Bishop, Jr, PhD, lived and visit massageandbodywork.com to access your digital magazine 81