The Importance of Self-Monitoring and A Personal Example

Self-monitoring

The act of utilizing the hypothetical filter that exists between the mind and the brain can be an invaluable tool for counselors when working with clients, particularly during high stress situations. Counselors need to refrain from saying or acting in a way that could hamper client success. Just as counselors ask their clients to monitor their behavior and thoughts as part of possible homework project, counselors too need to remain cognizant of their behavior.

Personal Experience

Having had the benefit of working in a few different group homes, with clients ranging from those experiencing developmental delays including fetal alcohol syndrome, unmedicated paranoid schizophrenia, and even clients who were placed into a group home setting by the legal system due to them being adolescent sex offenders who, if it wasn’t for their diminished mental capacity, would be incarcerated.

Each of these environments provided many opportunities in which I needed to self-monitor both my words and actions. One such example was when a client was upset that I had brought up to my boss that the client was “Facebook friends” with a few of the staff members, which is a violation of boundaries. The client and staff members were instructed to “de-friend” each other, which set the client off into a behavioral spiral, which included punching of walls, throwing of furniture, and eventually cornering me into a room and attempting to physically assault me.

Due to the legal aspect, staff members are provided with instruction and lessons on personal protection intervention (PPI), in which we are taught how to detain clients as well as protect ourselves from receiving physical harm. When the client cornered me and locked me in a room with him, as he blocked the door, I had to use self-monitoring, both on the verbal and physical levels. I had to remain calm in demeanor, working to use my words and tone to convey the message that this was not approved behavior. Additionally, in my off time I enjoy kickboxing and sparring with a 100 pound heavy bag as well as MMA training, so I had to resist doing what I use in those instances. Yes, part of me wanted to use these moves, but I had to listen to, and be the voice of reason.

By remaining calm in the above situation, I was able to diffuse the conflict without coming to blows with the client. Additionally, I was able to work with the client after that...until he told his counselor that he wanted to kill me a few weeks later, complete with a plan, including method and time. Thankfully the counselor, who I had met and worked with in the past, utilized the appropriate Duty to Warn counseling ethics and notified me of the situation, or potential situation. However, my boss kept me working one-on-one with the client despite a continual escalation in the behavior and the threat, which eventually led to my leaving the company due to providing an unsafe work environment.