Caring Co-worker

It is imperative to have a supportive team to work with in a crisis situation. Clients that are paranoid, angry, and at time homicidal can test your nerves - to say the least. If the staff is cohesive, supportive, and caring towards one another, you feel safe, more upbeat, and this internal atmosphere generally transmits back to the clients and makes them more calm. One would think that people in the mental health field would have a loving and caring attitude, ready to jump into difficult situations because they care about their fellow man. Well in an ideal world this would be true, but unfortunately our world is not ideal.

Take my coworker ____ for example. _____ is quirky, complains about the work, but when involved in a session is great with the client's to a point. Often after a session, _____ will complain the patient talked too much and didn't listen one bit.

The number one trait of a great counselor is being able to listen. How can we provide help if we don't listen to what a person says? I learned this from studying Carl Rogers - one of my all time favorite Psychologists. Carl perfected the art of simply listening. He stated: "People are just as wonderful as sunsets. I don't try to control a sunset, I just sit back and watch it in awe."

My coworker and I have been at odds in battling for a work station. With budget cuts industry wide, we have a few night time employees working during the day, having to close our night and weekend shifts. This has created more people and not enough computers to work on. Could you believe that this co-worker, this loving soul logged me off the computer in order for him to work at that station? Yep. Then the arguement ensued. "I was waiting for the station and when I returned to the room I was entitled to this very spot."

Yes this is a co-worker, a supposed team player, who has dedicated his life to helping others and supporting his fellow staff member. I thought I was here to deal with clients.

Peace. Out.