13 Quick Tips

Below you will find additional tips that address some of the topics not discussed in other sections.

Social Media – I recommend having a presence on social media, but also being wary of what others can see. Consider that most employers, as well as many clients, will search your social media posts. You can change account settings so that pictures and posts are private, or remove them altogether if they don’t represent you in a positive light. I know of some helpers who accept friend requests from clients, but that’s an area where the professional relationship starts to break down, so I suggest avoiding it unless it is done through a professional account run by the agency. Having boundaries around social media will help stay consistent with the professional boundaries around all of your client-counselor relationships. If you’re unsure what to do, refer back to the policy of doing no harm and seeking supervision. Agencies may adopt policies that restrict social media relationships with clients for the benefit of both parties. The agency may also utilize social media as a teaching tool by providing resources for clients.

Physical Touch – This issue comes up frequently in classroom discussions about boundaries. What constitutes appropriate touch, or is no physical touch ever warranted in helping settings? Some people are naturally more inclined to use touch as part of their communication, such as handshakes, hugs, or even a reassuring hand on a shoulder. Issues to consider are your agency’s rules, the population with which you are working, and cultural norms around touch. Age, gender, identity, and trauma history also influence the significance of physical contact. Corrections settings often forbid physical contact, while private counseling agencies may allow and even encourage it. If physical contact is appropriate based on your role and relationship, be aware of how the client will interpret the touch. One safeguard is to ask a client before initiating any kind of touch. On the flip side, if you have clear boundaries around touch, or you are concerned that a client may use touch inappropriately, you can establish clear guidelines early on and stick to them.

Know Your Community – Becoming familiar with the resources and services offered in your area is a huge benefit to you and your clients. Don’t assume that the agency will have all of this information, either. Taking the time to research what’s available to your clients will give you the opportunity to uncover some much-needed resources, build relationships within the community, and offer more options to clients. You can maintain a physical or digital list of resources over time so that you have them readily available to make useful referrals for clients. Throughout your career, you will also want to build your network by developing personal relationships that can translate into important contacts when the time comes. Your classmates, colleagues, and people you meet at conferences are all potential sources of resources, just as you will be to them.

How Does the Agency Pay its Bills? – All organizations need funding to survive. That money might come from insurance companies, government budgets, grants, donations, or directly from the client. All funding comes with pros and cons that you should learn about as you gain more experience in the field. Understanding the structure of the organization and its finances are key pieces to being able to take on more responsibility. If you want to move into a supervisory or administrative role within the agency – something you might be doing much sooner than you expect – then you have to know what keeps the lights on. Many non-profits operate on slim margins, so every dollar counts, both in revenue and expenses. While you might tell yourself that you got into this field to avoid math, a few basic accounting lessons won’t hurt, and they will provide you with a broader view of the decisions that are made among leadership.

Avoid the Cynicism Trap – In our work, we often encounter dishonesty. Clients have various motivations for obscuring the truth for their own self-interest, but we cannot take it personally. Sometimes it relates to prior trauma or to poor experiences with other providers. Clients may fear that we will judge them or hold information against them in the future. When we are faced with dishonesty, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of reflexively distrusting clients as a whole. Doing so will harm our work and lead to poorer outcomes, becoming a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Do we want to become angry, pessimistic disheartened, and resigned? Or do we resist that path and treat each client as an individual without bringing our baggage to the encounter? The difference in attitude correlates highly with client outcomes.

Don’t Let the Good Times Fool Ya – When I began my first job in substance use treatment, I was partnered with a counselor named Mike who consistently provided unique insights. One of his favorite sayings – one I did not understand for a long time – was “Don’t let the good times fool ya.” Taken at face value, the saying sounded like a jaded reminder that when things are going well, they are bound not to last. In treatment, this rule never failed; if the program was running smoothly for even a few days, you knew trouble was just around the corner. That said, the expression also has a flip side, which is that the negative times don’t last either. In a very Buddhist sense, Mike realized that situations, people, places, and things were all temporary. None of it was meant to last indefinitely, no matter how wonderful or how painful. I now use this saying not as a way of imagining that the rain is on its way to ruin a sunny day, but instead as a reminder that life has a way of finding balance.

More About Group Work: Group counseling can often feel heavy. The focus of the group session is typically on some deficiency or problem, and many times it’s an issue that clients have heard before, possibly numerous times. We often joke that some of our clients could run our groups better than we could because they have learned the information by rote. While there is nothing wrong with client education and processing of deeper experiences, there is also plenty of room to conduct more upbeat and energetic groups. Even if only as an icebreaker, including some time for humor or fun, is a great idea.