2 answers
Alasia
Student
Covington, Georgia
1
Question
Asked
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What does it take to be the best therapist?
My name is Alasia, I am 16 years old, and I am in 10th grade. I’m planning on getting my bachelors degree in physcology after I graduate. I want to become a therapist
while I work on getting my phd in physics.
I understand that in order to be a good therapist you have to be able to help solve the problems that the client faces. What if you aren’t able to solve their problems? What are the steps you have to take to ensure the client is stable?
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2 answers
Amber Deardorff
Medical assistant
5
Answers
Athens, Ohio
Updated
Amber’s Answer
Hi Alasia,
I have currently been working on getting set up for my masters in mental health counseling. When talking with someone about their issues, we have to remember that the person is seeking help. Although we may not be able to fix the problem that day, we can work to fix or help them in a moment. I have recently begun taking a course on Peer Recovery Support and one of the biggest things it teaches is communication and how we can help the person in the moment or work through the issue now. Sometimes resolving a anxious feeling or moment of depression we can help someone to begin to work through a situation by clearing the moment of distress they are having and help open the mind to think of other ways or methods to resolve situations. Communication, listening and being able to provide a conversation to a client is more beneficial than not talking with them and leaving them feeling empty or lost.
You will do great. There are many different t treatment models out there that are taught for therapy and counseling so there may be a multitude of methods we have not learned about that will allow us to help more people than we know.
Respectfully, Amber
I have currently been working on getting set up for my masters in mental health counseling. When talking with someone about their issues, we have to remember that the person is seeking help. Although we may not be able to fix the problem that day, we can work to fix or help them in a moment. I have recently begun taking a course on Peer Recovery Support and one of the biggest things it teaches is communication and how we can help the person in the moment or work through the issue now. Sometimes resolving a anxious feeling or moment of depression we can help someone to begin to work through a situation by clearing the moment of distress they are having and help open the mind to think of other ways or methods to resolve situations. Communication, listening and being able to provide a conversation to a client is more beneficial than not talking with them and leaving them feeling empty or lost.
You will do great. There are many different t treatment models out there that are taught for therapy and counseling so there may be a multitude of methods we have not learned about that will allow us to help more people than we know.
Respectfully, Amber
Gena Holmes
Clinical Psychologist
14
Answers
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Updated
Gena’s Answer
Hi Alasia,
The good new is you don’t really have to solve problems as a therapist. I’d much rather a therapist like you who recognises they don’t have all the answers, than a therapist who thinks they know everything!
Sometimes things just can’t be solved and therapy is more about learning to live well with what ‘is’ and less about fixing things. If the therapist can see the client’s emotions and difficulties not as problems to fix, but as something meaningful and worthy of care, very gradually the client may feel this way too.
Seeing emotions and difficulties as meaningful and worthy of care helps people judge themself less and treat themself with more genuine kindness which can reduce energy spent fighting against or forcing yourself.
Sometimes things can be solved of course but if the therapist rushes to problem solving the client can feel like they haven’t been heard properly. Focussing on solutions can also skip out an essential emotional process in the middle, like trying to jump straight to the top of a mountain, whereas one step at a time is all that is possible.
Like Amber said, it’s more important to focus moment to moment on the client’s experience, than it is to focus on solving or fixing. If the therapist can ‘hold space’ for the client’s feelings and problems without rushing the client to feel better, or becoming completely overwhelmed, eventually something subtle may shift inside the client. One way to describe this type of work is ‘process focussed’ rather than ‘outcomes or goal focussed’.
In process focussed work, the therapist actively listens, feels, notices, wonders, tunes in and reflects deeply before responding. The therapist is trained to listen and respond this way with lots of practice, lots of their own therapy, lots of training and guidance from senior therapists, some natural ability and formal study.
If you have these things throughout your career, as well as some natural ability for empathy, you are likely to be the best therapist you can for your clients.
Here is an article with more detail about what it means to ‘hold space’.
https://www.shondaland.com/live/family/a37143592/what-does-it-mean-to-hold-space-for-someone/#
All the best.
Gena
The good new is you don’t really have to solve problems as a therapist. I’d much rather a therapist like you who recognises they don’t have all the answers, than a therapist who thinks they know everything!
Sometimes things just can’t be solved and therapy is more about learning to live well with what ‘is’ and less about fixing things. If the therapist can see the client’s emotions and difficulties not as problems to fix, but as something meaningful and worthy of care, very gradually the client may feel this way too.
Seeing emotions and difficulties as meaningful and worthy of care helps people judge themself less and treat themself with more genuine kindness which can reduce energy spent fighting against or forcing yourself.
Sometimes things can be solved of course but if the therapist rushes to problem solving the client can feel like they haven’t been heard properly. Focussing on solutions can also skip out an essential emotional process in the middle, like trying to jump straight to the top of a mountain, whereas one step at a time is all that is possible.
Like Amber said, it’s more important to focus moment to moment on the client’s experience, than it is to focus on solving or fixing. If the therapist can ‘hold space’ for the client’s feelings and problems without rushing the client to feel better, or becoming completely overwhelmed, eventually something subtle may shift inside the client. One way to describe this type of work is ‘process focussed’ rather than ‘outcomes or goal focussed’.
In process focussed work, the therapist actively listens, feels, notices, wonders, tunes in and reflects deeply before responding. The therapist is trained to listen and respond this way with lots of practice, lots of their own therapy, lots of training and guidance from senior therapists, some natural ability and formal study.
If you have these things throughout your career, as well as some natural ability for empathy, you are likely to be the best therapist you can for your clients.
Here is an article with more detail about what it means to ‘hold space’.
https://www.shondaland.com/live/family/a37143592/what-does-it-mean-to-hold-space-for-someone/#
All the best.
Gena