Counselor/Medical Officer's Log #25 - "Perspective"

Posted on 30 Aug 2014 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle

330 words; about a 2 minute read

As a therapist, a central part of my work involves helping people see themselves, their relationships, and their universe from a different perspective. In fact, if nothing else, people are inclined to talk to me about their struggles precisely because I'm not them, and will naturally have a different perspective than they do. The thought is that therapists can be objective sounding boards for people, or at least a little more objective than those others in need tend to be. Therapists are somewhat like investigators really, asking questions and observing things like tone of voice and word choice to make things just below the surface that much clearer to both of us.

The real challenge, and what I love most about my work, is helping people discover things about themselves that neither of us expected. Some people have made the argument counselors do nothing more than what a caring, reasonably astute, friend might do. I suppose this statement has the equivalent emotional impact of telling an engineer he does nothing more than what a trained robot, or in the way distant past, what a trained monkey, could do. Friends can certainly listen and clarify what's said aloud, but a big part of what I do is as much about paying attention to what isn't said as much as what is.

In my efforts to help people look at things from a different perspective to feel better about their own lives, I've forgotten how, in doing so, I'd also be changing my own. It comes down to keeping an open mind. A routine psych evaluation will be routine if that's what I expect. On the other hand, if I remain open to having my own perspectives challenged, people just might allow me to see the fear, hurt, or challenged self-esteem deep down.

It's sounds clich or obvious saying it aloud now, but lately I've been reminded just how much people aren't always what they seem at first glance.

Not even me.

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