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How do you get out of awkward situations between you and the patient if your a therapist?

I was just wondering this question because I thought that there would sometimes be awkward situations. #therapist #awkward

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Delia’s Answer

What first comes to mind for me as a psychotherapist reading your question, is what caused the awkwardness? Exploring uncomfortable situations with your clients is imperative to building trust and rapport and developing a strong therapeutic alliance. Being a good therapist means we're going to have to say the hard things, make uncomfortable observations, and be a voice of reason. In an appointment with a client, if you begin to feel awkward or sense your client is awkward the best thing to do is explore this.
"I'm sensing a bit of tension in the room/ some awkwardness since we began talking about ________. Do you agree? / Why do you think that happened?" "I noticed the energy shifted after I said ___________. What do you thinks going on there?".

Every energy shift or mood change in an appointment with your client is an opportunity to dive deeper and build a stronger, trusting therapeutic relationship with them. Use the awkward to your advantage. The same way you'd feed off of someone's positivity or approval, you want to explore the less positive interactions as well.
Another helpful tool is to have a great supervisor, and talk about your countertransference with them. Our clients are going to make us feel uncomfortable sometimes, and we won't always like what they have to say so processing that countertransference with another mental health professional can be really helpful.

Delia recommends the following next steps:

Explore your own personal biases; why did you feel awkward?
Have an open and honest conversation about the awkwardness with your client.
Process your countertransference in supervision.
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Jami’s Answer

I think you have to keep in mind that you are there to listen and offer advice. It is not about you and you must keep an open mind. As a nurse I see and hear some pretty crazy stuff but it is my job to educate and care for my patient. If something is awkward you might take a moment to remember your role as a therapist, you are not friends with that person. Your job is to offer advice or listen but if you allow those awkward feelings to take over, that means you are making it personal.
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Tiffany’s Answer

A lot of training as a therapist is learning the way to ask questions so to turn the attention back to the patient. A good therapist works through their own transference and recognizes that sometimes there are answers in patience.
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