Providing therapy can feel like starting a thousand books you never got to finish. We see people for this slice of their life, maybe a chapter or two, and rarely get to find out what happens after that. Funding models that rely on brief interventions can feel like reading just a few pages.
We need to be careful not to overgeneralise and have our window of engagement define the person, where ‘this moment’ becomes ‘this person’. And we need some gentleness with ourselves. It’s not easy holding so many unfinished stories with so many unanswered questions.
As helping professionals and carers, we too are an unfinished book. We too run the risk of defining ourselves based on this slice of time, this chapter, this role. Our work of supporting others, and our relationship with it, is an unfolding story. And like any good tale, there may be unexpected twists and turns.
Our skills, our interests, our strengths evolve. What challenged us once may no longer hold the same fascination. What we used to be able to take on board may now feel too heavy or too much to carry. We may fall out of love with one kind of work only to fall in love with another. We may decide to run away with an entirely different career altogether.
We want to be where we are right now, in this chapter, with integrity and curiosity. But we also need to stay be open to new paths forming that may take us in unexpected directions.
Helen Mentha 