Asking a client “what would you like to achieve from today’s session” for me is so important. We already know why the client has come to see us as we have taken all the information we need at the Initial Consultation. We may be working successfully in reducing the client’s anxiety levels, which allows them to want to tackle other areas too. Sometimes, the initial complaint, was not the thing causing the anxiety and we should be mindful of this. Working at one step behind the client and watching their lead, we can see where they are going and guide them along their way.
I recently had a client come to see me for assistance in sticking to her weight loss plan, she was expecting, conversations of portion sizes and mentioned “hypnotic Gastric Bands” I of course talked about what she thought the benefits were to her if these were to be successful and she said she would feel she could go back to doing exercise as she would have more energy and feel better about herself. I then carried out workings of the mind presentation and focused heavily on the 3P`s, Positive interaction, Positive thoughts and Positive Action, strangely enough, the client had a lightbulb moment and said “maybe I should go swimming as I used to really enjoy that !! oh and I should walk more really!!” the subsequent sessions didn’t mention weight loss, they focussed on seeing how she could find ways of walking further and swimming faster. The lady had lost 12lbs in the first month of seeing me, she was happier, felt good about her changing body shape and didn’t worry so much about what others though she looked like.
A little girl with a phobia of dogs is currently coming to see me, we are making terrific progress and we have got to the stage where she is happy to be in the vicinity of dogs and even stoke them if they are on leads. At one session, when we were close to the end, I asked “is there anything else that you would like to talk about today that we may have missed? “She then explained she had a residential trip at school and was so afraid of going rock climbing. We then spent an additional 25 minutes learning how we could use the “swish” technique to help her overcome the first few feet of the climbing walls. At the next session, her “what’s been good about your week?” was that she climbed and abseiled down the rock face!!
We need to ask, listen and react to what we are being told and hearing, this way we can see the best way forward.
