After sessions I can sometimes feel a real mix of pride, frustration, sadness, and compassion around what has been discussed. And so, as the year is rounding off, I wanted to write a public letter to all my clients - past, present, and future.
To my current clients, I am so glad that you have chosen me to let into your life, to trust me with the really difficult 'stuff' and the really positive 'stuff'. Even though I try, I don't think my words will ever be able to encapsulate how utterly humbled I am to (metaphorically) walk beside you and be invited into seeing your life from your world view. I have so many hopes for our work together, wishing you the best in every situation, but most of all I hope that I can hold you where you are and offer you somewhere safe to just be you. There may be some bumps in the road, there may be times where you don't want to face our sessions because of the challenges it can bring, there may be times where you are angry, frustrated, or even dislike me for exploring certain emotions and situations with you, but I believe you can get through all of this, you can make it out to the other side, to learn how to cope with obstacles in your life without needing me anymore, and to realise your worth, your validity, and how deserving you are of love.
To my past clients, I hope that you're doing well, I wonder if you still think of the skills, techniques, and processes we talked about in sessions. Some of you stayed with me for many sessions, we worked through some really deep and difficult situations, emotions, thoughts, and feelings. We brought our sessions to a close and allowed our final session to model a healthy ending, which for some of you was a first and allowed us both to share our learnings and appreciation of the time spent working together. Some of you left after only a few sessions and without letting me know. All of you stay in my thoughts, still held with compassion and curiosity of how life is going for you.
To my future clients, you will benefit from all the work previous clients have done, with each session I do, I learn and grow to be a better therapist for you. I'm not sure yet why it is that you have found me and why you might make contact, but I want you to know I'm here. I don't know what difficulties we will face, but once we start the work, we will face it together. I can't necessarily help you, but I can manage your expectations of what I can do, which is to hold a safe space for you to explore whatever it is you need to, to manage and role model healthy boundaries, and to offer some consistency with the sessions.
To all of you, thank you. Thank you for being you, for showing your vulnerability and trusting me with the most painful parts of your life, thank you for showing up and coming back to sessions each week.
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