Most social workers have dealt with these clients.  The clients who have been to every program under the sun and hope that yours will give them that something they need, that one extra push etc…  The question is, what do you do with them? 

Something I’ve noticed, is that many of these clients have a very negative mental filter.  Despite the positive things which may be going on in their lives, they focus exclusively on the negative and seem unable to take the positive into account.  They often seem very genuine and earnest, often citing the bad experiences they’ve had with other social workers/programs.  And yet for some reason, they keep trying again. 

While some of them have tried and quit every program, there are some that are still IN every program.  I recently had a client who was seeing something like six different counselors at once, and wanted to join our program on top of that.  Despite all the counseling, he was definitely not mentally stable and I recommended we put a hold on his admittance.  I don’t think adding a seventh (or however many) service is actually going to do the client any good. 

The thing is though, no one program is going to be right for everyone, and sometimes what people need isn’t so much a program but someone who will stick with them no matter how many times they quit.  For example, if a client has a counselor who is willing to take them back no matter how many times they storm out and find a new counselor, maybe that continuity will help them to make progress.  It’s hard to know though.  Sometimes the thirtieth program is the answer, it’s the one that clicks, the one that works.

Maybe this thought doesn’t have a point? 

Read the complete post at http://awake-anddreaming.blogspot.com/2009/05/service-eater.html