Back Again: Vulnerability
After many intense months, I finally have the time to rest and reflect.
Work. Refugee youth are one of the most vulnerable client populations a therapist can work with. This has become more evident to me in the past three months than it has ever been in my five years working with this group.
In the past three months I have:
-Supported four young clients in gaining out of home placements.
-Listened to stories of immense cruelty that have occurred in this country, at this time.
- Supported the language interpreters themselves as they reacted with outrage to the story content.
-Got to know the local authorities pretty well.
-Struggled to find a place in my ever-widening worldview for these stories.
How do we as therapists and caring people process the terrible situations that our clients report to us, particularly when they are still occurring?
I have stumbled my way through this quandary as if I had never done so before. All of my usual coping strategies have been only minimally helpful: supervision, rest, art, mindfulness, time with partner and friends, etc. This time around I found I literally needed regular bodywork, a vacation without phone or email at all, and ultimately to leave one of my work environments that was not taking threats to my personal safety seriously.
I have incredibly high tolerance for difficult content in client stories; even so, when the worst stories I've ever heard intersect with a greater community that is not able to insure the safety of my very vulnerable clients and myself, I meet my limits. We all have different limits, and most of us won't know what those limits are until we hit them.
I'm sure I'll have more to share as I metabolize this experience further and come to greater understanding. For now, I feel it is important to share this process midway - to reflect with honesty the raw impact this work can have on us as human beings. It's tough and brutal and incredibly moving. I feel simultaneously heartbroken and richer for what I've experienced.
Work. Refugee youth are one of the most vulnerable client populations a therapist can work with. This has become more evident to me in the past three months than it has ever been in my five years working with this group.
In the past three months I have:
-Supported four young clients in gaining out of home placements.
-Listened to stories of immense cruelty that have occurred in this country, at this time.
- Supported the language interpreters themselves as they reacted with outrage to the story content.
-Got to know the local authorities pretty well.
-Struggled to find a place in my ever-widening worldview for these stories.
How do we as therapists and caring people process the terrible situations that our clients report to us, particularly when they are still occurring?
I have stumbled my way through this quandary as if I had never done so before. All of my usual coping strategies have been only minimally helpful: supervision, rest, art, mindfulness, time with partner and friends, etc. This time around I found I literally needed regular bodywork, a vacation without phone or email at all, and ultimately to leave one of my work environments that was not taking threats to my personal safety seriously.
I have incredibly high tolerance for difficult content in client stories; even so, when the worst stories I've ever heard intersect with a greater community that is not able to insure the safety of my very vulnerable clients and myself, I meet my limits. We all have different limits, and most of us won't know what those limits are until we hit them.
I'm sure I'll have more to share as I metabolize this experience further and come to greater understanding. For now, I feel it is important to share this process midway - to reflect with honesty the raw impact this work can have on us as human beings. It's tough and brutal and incredibly moving. I feel simultaneously heartbroken and richer for what I've experienced.
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