Shock

I was sent to work with a young woman who had been through some trauma, and found it extremely difficult to speak to anyone. Myself included.

Her family was paying for me to work with her, but she didn’t want anything to do with it.

In many of our sessions, she would barely say a word at first, shaking her head and saying “I don’t know. I don’t know,” as a reply to most questions.

Until… I ask the right question.

She hated the container of professional help, but whenever I would say something out of pocket, she would laugh for one millisecond before putting her frown back on.

I leaned in.

“You don’t want to be here.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t know is too easy. Give me something.”

After some back and forth, she vocalized that her therapist wasn’t treating her with empathy. She wanted to open up but felt like she needed more control to trust the therapist.

This news changed how she was served, and reset her trajectory.

We’ve still got a ways to go before this client has her big message, but small ones delivered to the right people are still life-changing.

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What’s a message that you need someone in your life to hear?