In Consultation Jan/Feb - Page 4


In one therapy session, she reported a significant accomplishment, but was unable to experience any sense of pride or success in it. When I encouraged this well-deserved feeling, she became increasingly anxious. How­ever, when I openly and warmly told her how proud I felt about her achievement, her discomfort immediately decreased. As I transitioned to a more affirming, explicitly validating, approach and "gave" this experience to Sue, she demonstrated steady improvement and increasing ability to experience healthy pride herself.

The more you develop a broad range of skills, comfort zones, and flexibility, the more you'll be able to tailor your approach to the needs and styles of a variety of clients. You'll be a master actor, able to adapt to a broad range of roles, rather than a character actor, who plays essentially the same part in every script.

Being an effective clinician means letting go of preconceived ideas about how to respond, and paying attention to your clients' moment-to-moment needs. This attitude requires comfort with the unknown and faith in the therapeutic process. When you have no idea what to say until after the client has responded, you'll know you're getting the hang of it.

Steven Shapiro, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who specializes in personality disorders, adolescents and their families, parenting, and conflict resolution. He's a senior faculty member of the Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy Institute in New York City. Contact: stevensshapiro@comcast.net. Letters to the Editor about this department may be e-mailed to letters@psychnetworker.org

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