Trainee Talks is my way of sharing my reflection when and if they come to mind. The videos are short - no longer than 5 minutes each, and invite you to reflect on my experiences and interesting information.
Transcript for Episode One:
Trainee Talks – Episode One – A metaphor for how bias impacts the therapeutic process
Warning, this story does include the mention of spiders. I cannot find the author of this story and I adapted it slightly from memory.
You are walking through a forest. You are following your useful path when, in the distance you see a lake. You note that, for your next walk, you will take a detour and follow the path towards the lake. During the night hundreds of spiders awaken, and in their exceptionally talented ways, in between the branches and trees, they create their webs. The paths are covered by them. The webs glint in the moonlight. Some of them visible, some of them not. As the sun rises, the spiders retreat into their wooden homes.
In the morning, you are following your usual path when you take the detour towards the lake. You see your goaled location in front of you. Walking down the path, you notice some of the webs but decide to perceiver regardless. On your journey, no matter how you dodge, you become covered in the spider’s webs. You reach your destination, but along the way, the sight of the lake became blurred and impacted by the spiders’ web. To avoid the visual webs, you had to dodge and duck, but none the less, they impacted your travel.
When I heard the story, it made me think about the therapeutic process of therapy. In the initial session, you and the client will talk about the goals of therapy. In my mind, the lake represented the collaborated goals. Regarding the spider’s webs, I thought about my own biases. The ones I am aware of but also the ones that are not at the forefront of my mind yet still influence me. On the therapeutic journey towards goals, your biases will impact how you interact with different people. It is important to be aware of this.
Activity. For this it will be useful to have pen and paper to jot down your thoughts:
- Take a few moments to think about the story. How did you feel when you heard the story? Did a particular session come to mind?
- Think about your biases. Do they include biases involving genders, age, ethnicity, culture, other services, teams, management?
- Be mindful of having biases you are not aware of. How could you explore these more? Perhaps during supervision or resources?
Affirmation: You Are Enough
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