Clients Must Do The Heavy Lifting In Therapy
One of the most common issues that comes to me as a clinical supervisor is new therapists who are unsure about what to do when their clients simply refuse to do any of the work outside of therapy needed in order to help them to get well. This may seem odd, as these clients are paying good money for therapy and surely one would think that they would want to do whatever necessary to expedite the therapeutic process. If for no other reason other than to save them money in attending sessions.
It is essential that at the very beginning of the therapeutic relationship, that the therapist is honest with their clients about the fact that they will have to do work in between sessions in order to help facilitate the desired therapeutic changes that they have come in for. It is not enough to just expect the therapist to do all the work and for the client to coast. This is what I mean by heavy lifting, the therapist can assist the client to change, but in reality it is the client who does the heavy lifting and makes the changes that they want. They are the most important part of their own change work.
