A therapy relationship

     I have been thinking back at Sharon's intensive program as it has been several months since she has graduated. I have several people that I have spoken to in the special needs community about intensive therapy. Some with the same company that Sharon was with. Some that used different companies. I have/had a good experience with the company I used. Although, a number of families in the same program didn't have the same experience. I came to realize that this was the same across the board. I can talk to one family and thought that the therapy was outstanding. I would talk to another they had to leave to try another company. I don't know how some of this plays out. I do know that in order for the therapy to work, a personal relationship needs to be established.
     I knew that if I didn't show trust with the therapists, Sharon wouldn't trust them. I knew that if I did not show interest in the therapist, she wouldn't. It was important for me to be comfortable with the therapists. I knew that it would be hard. I knew that the therapists might not have the same views on life that I do. I had plenty of friends that do not have my same views that is not a problem. Trusting someone with your child is the hard part. Trusting them to know a little more is hard. This was all about Sharon though. When I got my footing the therapists and I starting working as a team. It wasn't they come in and work with her. They work with her but I was involved. I was there. At first I tried to keep busy. She is constantly trying to come to me for the support. It was getting her to realize that she can come to different people for support. To me this is all about relationships. If you have a trusting relationship things get done. It is a little different when you have no trust for someone. It is a lot easier to get work done when you like/love someone.
    That has to be the mindset of the therapist as well. It is very frustrating when you do not get anywhere with a client. I do not know anything about this. I do know that if I have an employee who does not like me it is a long night. I would think they would want to come in and establish trust, friendship than get to work. I think this is where the disconnect is. A lot of people are busy trying to get tasks accomplished. This is about the person. It isn't about the check marks. My therapists. and I knew that. We had a successful outcome in therapy.
    If you have to get something accomplished that requires more than you establish a relationship. Work on that relationship. It isn't about the work that needs to be done. It is about the person who is working with or for that is the key. We try to teach children like Sharon social skills. It is a great opportunity to work on our own. Believe me they are not perfected yet. We all have relationship we wish are better. We wish we had friends that we don't have. If you are a therapist, you have the perfect opportunity to work on those relationship skills. However, we see people everyday with a reason to reach out and connect.