I recently encountered an incident where a client was not pleased with the outcome of a group art project. The group art project was fantastic, accepted into a prestigious art competition, and accepted! The mere acceptance was enough for the staff and participants to be excited as pieces from around the world apply and only so many are accepted. Further, the group art piece came in 25th which seemed another bonus.
However, a specific client found no gratification in being accepted or placing 25th. In fact, she felt as if the entire thing was a failure and placed blame on the staff who guided the project. I was very bothered by her statements and I had to take a step back and consider a few things to help me understand her.
Has she experienced so many disappointments that this feels like another failure?
What is stopping her from celebrating such an accomplishment?
Are guided group projects ill fitted when working with this client?
Additionally, I had to ask myself a few questions about me.
What so bothered me about the clients emotional response?
Why am I so easily irritated when people are less than gratuitous?
Situations like this open my eyes to the many possible situations I will encounter when I am working in the field. I see the value in supervision and see that I still have a lot to learn about myself as well as being an effective art therapist!
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