Even if we work one-to-one with people, there are many voices in the room, for both the client, and for us.
The person we are supporting may be mindful of the input of family members, friends, colleagues. Perhaps they have legal advice or fears of what might be said about them.
They might be hearing the voices of systems or social pressures. Or memories of that mean teacher in the third grade, bullies or abusers. Or the arguments of strangers on social media or people they admire.
And so are we. The voices we hear aren’t confined to our teachers, supervisors and managers. We don’t just take our professional self into the room.
We can be curious where our voices come from and what they’re really saying. We can wonder how valid they are for the other person or even ourselves. We can also choose voices of peers and supervisors to help share the load and the messy reality of the work.
And we want to amplify the voices that lift us up while making sure we still have kind voices that show us how to do better, be better, and be a positive voice in the rooms we are not in.
Helen Mentha 