Week 22
This dilemma brought an overwhelming response of speaking to our supervisor; this is a strong reminder of how important the supervisory relationship is in the therapeutic world. Being a counsellor can be isolating and having a trusted person who can help us reflect on our client work, our business and ourselves is vital.
The dilemma in full:
You are working from a room in a multi-use building - you share the space with a number of other therapeutic and community businesses.
After a few days away, you open up your room and find an envelope, addressed to you, that has been put under your door. The envelope is handwritten, as is the letter inside.
The letter names one of your clients and contains an accusation that they abused someone when they were at school. The letter contains details of the abuse and includes information about an incident that your client has mentioned, but in their account, they were a bystander, not the perpetrator. Your client has described the situation as being emotionally scarring but not criminal - the letter suggests otherwise.
The letter is shocking in its content and the author is asking how you can work with such a monster. You are not seeing the client for a few days.
What would you do?
Contact the police and hand over the letter
Contact your supervisor and arrange a meeting on the phone
At your next session ask the client about the incident (without mentioning the letter)
At your next session hand over the letter and ask them if they want to discuss this
Bin the letter - it is irrelevant to your work with your client
What would you do?