VIEWPOINT FROM CLINICAL PRACTICE ruefully conceded the irony that the work of the practitioner is assisting clients to be able to restore balance and health , on all levels , yet here was a client who asked for help while rejecting it at the same time . The situation posed a direct challenge to Peter ’ s understanding of practice . He needed to deeply understand the complex nature of help , and to really think about the difference between helping and rescuing .
The moral of the story ? Some clients don ’ t want to be helped ; they want to be heard . Sometimes as a practitioner you may find you are comfortable in that role , and the impulse to offer the tools of trade is secondary to simply being present . That can bear a strangely beneficial fruit for the client – remember , holistic healing comes in many forms . Clients bring many messages with them , not all of which are visible , although all have meaning . They will test the practitioner ’ s emotional , physical , and spiritual capacity over and over . They will test resilience . Peter needed to think about the limits of his capacity , to know that those limits are reasonable and necessary , and to consider how he wanted to practise . Also , to check the balance in the relationship – was the client ’ s repeated assertion that they ‘ liked and felt safe with Peter ’ flattering him and feeding his sense of value in an unhealthy way ? A caring practitioner needs a muscular , well-developed resilience along with good self-knowledge to be able to practise effectively .
Yuki had set up practice by herself , and she used social media to promote it . She was proud of the professionalism of her technology skills and the way she could use them to extend the reach of her ‘ brand ’. She felt very confident she was coming across as up-to-date and very connected to the market . But highprofile connectivity had a sting in it , and to her dismay she found that clients felt very free on social media to make any sort of comment . She was blindsided by a few anonymous negative online reviews which branded her as ‘ uninvolved ’ and ‘ too casual ’. Her resilience was tested by a situation where she felt powerless to respond . She felt spun into self-doubt and examined her work ethic , her model of consultation . She reviewed her posts , her social media communication strategy , and wondered if her focus was too much on appearance . Was she too outward facing and had she really been neglecting to really listen - one of the most essential skills of the healing arts ?
The moral of the story ? The solo practitioner faces a singular set of challenges . Resilience needs to be nurtured and strengthened as it can be very tough out there in the marketplace . Yuki could call on friends and collegial networks , but essentially the work of staying true to core beliefs and keeping faith is individual . Resilience is significantly more than fairy dust ; it ’ s to do with picking yourself up again and again . It ’ s also to know that the hard lessons offer opportunities to recalibrate and adjust your understanding of yourself professionally and personally . Social media is a volatile world . The feedback Yuki received may have been unfair and unjustified , but it did nudge her into thinking about her strategies in practice .
Gerry has had to close his bodywork clinic during the pandemic lockdowns . After the shock of the abrupt cessation of business , he found that the enforced break was welcome . Clients were beginning to drain him : he was tired of being a repository of people ’ s stories and their woes , and the role of accidental counsellor was wearing him down . The closure forced him to review his situation and think hard about his viability and commitment . He felt that he could no longer sustain the endless ‘ giving ’. He had always been very conscious of the need to be ‘ clean ’ in his energy when touching people but now he felt empty and at times resentful and bored . He knew all the things he could do to sustain himself but simply didn ’ t have the energy for any of it . His resilience was at a low ebb . He was thinking about walking away from his business altogether .
The moral of the story ? Gerry had been tipped into a change cycle . He had lost the spark that ignited his passion for his work , and this eroded his work ethic and resilience . The working life is hard and long and needs ongoing resolve to persevere with a sense of willingness and joy . Everybody suffers periods of disenchantment ; Gerry had reached a point where he needed to think about renewal and the work of sustaining resilience personally and professionally . He was in the swamp . The murky place in life where riches , such as understanding the true nature of resilience , can be found .
Think of keystones . In an arch , the keystone is the most critical building block . It anchors the weight of the structure , and without it the structure will fall . A keystone species anchors a whole ecosystem : mangroves in a coastal marine system are a good example . Resilience is keystone to the ability of practitioners to work with skill and to maintain ongoing faith and optimism . To bounce back .
Consider the skills and resources you can use to build a strong , deeply embedded resilience . Start with the tools of trade : bone broths and supplements and work your way through meditations / running / prayer / friendships / sunsets – whatever it takes to build inside you a resilient wisdom that will sustain you in the good and the trying days of practice . You know you can and will be tested . Having good resilience models inner strength for clients . Resilience is yours to build and preserve , but it takes work .
Remember the words of the poet Mary Oliver in The Uses of Sorrow : ‘ Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness . It took me years to understand that this too was a gift .’
The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of Hanne Grant , Social Media Communications and Marketing Consultant , to this paper . She may be contacted at hannegrant . circus @ gmail . com
Dr Airdre Grant , author , academic and columnist , may be contacted at airdre . grant @ gmail . com
JATMS | Spring 2022 | 149