Counsellors are always supported by regular supervision form someone there to help them to sort out what issues come up for them are to do with the client and what is their own stuff. Once you’ve experienced this support, it is difficult to know how you managed without it. It is not to do with your standard of practice, but about having someone to offload on to without fear of recrimination from someone with whom you don’t have to keep up the front of perfection. Some doctors are beginning to recognise its value. Perhaps it would be more acceptable for doctors if it had a different name.
When you experience the power of support and encouragement rather than demands and intimidation you will be more able to coach your patients to do whatever they need to do, rather than reaching for the prescription pad or becoming exasperated with them. When someone listens to your concerns and acknowledges them as legitimate, you will become a better listener to your patients and hear more of their underlying issues and empower them too. You will be able to convey to them that they can make a difference to their own lives when they take responsibility for it. Every small change you as an individual make will eventually help to change the system. Take courage; start to care for yourself, much more. What will you do differently today?
Empowerment is a fascinating topic. `We should be empowering our patients in terms of facilitating their own ability to stay healthy yet often we fail.
It may of of course have something to do with the fact that ourselves we are not as fully empowered as we should be. We have rights to our lives and parameters around our medical work which we must respect if we are to live our own full lives away from Medicine. Our patients need to know what those are………….
Supervision and reflection time may be one way of achieving this.
Good wishes Clive