Week 19
The results are in on our latest dilemma focussing on meeting a client in a pub following a cancelled appointment. We have had an interesting mix of responses, with some people wanting to reach out and others waiting until the next session.
" I would smile and nod, because I would want my client to still feel warmth from me, from the smile. I would go back inside, because I don't think it would be the right place to have the conversation that would at some point need to be had. It also gives the client the opportunity to come and see me inside the pub to talk to me and explain if they feel ready to."
As with all our dilemmas, you can still take part:>> https://forms.gle/QsygyuzgXcviFFcy6
"... if I'm pretty sure they're on their own. I don't knowhow this conversation goes, but I think if nothing is said there's a real risk they just never come back"
The dilemma in full:
You have been working with a client for 8 weeks - the therapeutic relationship feels strong and you are doing some work about trust and honesty as the client has had a history of being lied too and cheated on.
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Your next session is due later today and you receive an email to say that they have had a family emergency and have had to travel to another part of the country to see their parents as one of them has been taken ill.
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You email back and arrange a session for the following week - considering the circumstances you do not charge them a cancellation fee.
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The session was your last of the day and as you now have a space in your diary, and it is sunny, you decide to walk to along the river to a nearby pub. You buy a drink and head out to the pub garden. As you enter the garden, you see your client sat at a table on their own. You are about to turn around and leave before he sees you....and then he looks up and makes eye contact.
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What Would You Do?
- Look at him so that he knows you have seen him, then sit in another part of the garden
- Smile and nod, then go back inside the pub
- Quickly turnaround and head back in as though you haven't seen him
- Walk up to him and ask how he is
#pub #cancelledappointment #clientinpublic