Helping your clients stay positive in these challenging times will offer them valuable skills for staying resilient, and helping them get through this global upheaval better and stronger.
1. Emphasize to your clients that even if things don’t always turn out, they can still turn out okay with their attitude and mind-set. With a positive mind-set, they can free themselves from being a negative narrator of their life story.
2. Having a positive mind-set doesn’t mean you think things will always turn out for the best. There are some things in life that go horribly wrong. Acknowledging this will help your clients make lemonade out of lemons, and help them turn adversity into growth.
3. Challenge your clients to find gratitude during these times—what are they grateful for? Focusing on gratitude can turn a traumatic situation into a blessing. Ask them to write down three new things each day for which they are grateful in order to keep an eye on the importance of gratitude.
4. With more free time and a disruption of schedule, it is not uncommon for feelings of depression to set in as clients review past missteps and regrettable choices. Encourage them to forgive themselves for not knowing then what they know now. Forgiving themselves for not having the foresight to know what is now so obvious in hindsight can free them from being a prisoner of the past.
5. Demonstrate a visualization to your clients by using one drop of food coloring in a clear glass of water. One drop discolors the water considerably. That is the power of one negative thought. Alternatively, it can demonstrate the power of one positive thought!
Judith Belmont, MS, LPC, has been a psychotherapist, motivational speaker, workplace wellness consultant, and mental health coach. Her message of positivity, healthy communication, stress resilience, and self-empowerment has reached thousands nationwide through her books, consulting, and interactive presentations.
She is author of seven mental health and wellness books that offer therapists and their clients, as well as self-help readers, practical solutions to deal with common problems such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. In her books, she offers practical skill-building resources using experiential activities, visualizations, handouts, and worksheets.
Belmont is founder of Belmont Wellness (www.belmontwellness.com) where she offers a variety of mental health and wellness presentations, as well as personal and professional coaching. Her mission to share important life skills and promote self-empowerment and positivity is followed by a wide audience due to her active social media presence on various sites, such as Facebook and Pinterest.
Part 2: What to Do When a Client Is Participating in Self-Judgment?