Part two of a three-part series on client procrastination
by Bill Knaus, EdD
Clients suffering from recurrent anxieties share common bonds. Among them you'll find an anxiety-procrastination connection. You can help speed your clients' progress by helping them see and break this bond.
With your guidance, your client often discovers recurring anxiety beliefs, such as "I'd look like a fool if I spoke before a group." This awareness can be a prelude for changing this parasitic brand of thinking. However, your client won't get far beyond the joys of self-revelation without following up with corrective actions. That's where procrastination can get in the way. Here is an innovative way to address this intertwined process. Take a recurring belief, such as if "I spoke before a group I'd look like a fool," and redefine it as a belief that also leads to procrastinating. Therapist: "If you fear looking like a fool, what do you ordinarily do?" Client: "Something different." Therapist: "Such as?" Client: "Tweeting my friends." Therapist: "That's an example of procrastination as a defense against a fear." Now, you, the therapist, take it from here.
Client self-labeling, such as "I'm a hopeless procrastinator," can be a barrier to meaningful change. Some clients will identify with the label and feel stuck. I typically explain, "A procrastinator label says more about the folly of making sweeping generalizations about you than it says about you." That intervention typically causes the client to pause in thought. Once past the "procrastinator" label issue, your client may better focus on breaking an anxiety-procrastination connection.