Introduction
The greeting session does not involve any deep analysis of the client’s thoughts and diagnosis as well. It can be described as a get-to-know meeting rather than wholesome work. During the first session, the client usually tells about his problems, while the specialist asks about his feelings, concerns, and personal well-being in general. It is reasonable for the specialist to try different exercises to help the client reveal his fears and issues that bother him. The greeting process also involves discussing the methods the specialist uses to check if the client agrees to work with them or not.
Another critical aspect of the greeting session is the discussion of confidentiality issues. Client confidentiality is one of the basic rules of interaction between the patient and the specialist. Patients come for high-quality professional assistance, so they do not want their personal problems to be discussed by a third party. That is why the specialist needs to ensure that the issues the client discusses with him are confidential, and nobody will know about the problems they discuss during sessions. One important point about patient confidentiality concerns the aspect of the client’s behavior being harmful or potentially dangerous either for himself or society. This group of activities includes the risks or attempts of suicide, homicide, and self-harm.
When communicating with the patients with the listed above risks, it is wrong to start seeking the reasons for such behavior during the first session. This process is traumatizing and requires mutual trust and respect. Since the client and the specialist do not have such a bond yet, the specialist should not discuss the patient’s problems right away. Instead of pointing at it during the greeting session, the specialist may devote it to the get-to-know process and just ask the client questions about him, maybe his family, and the reason for coming. The specialist may also conduct some tests to understand the possible diagnosis of the client. During the greeting session, the specialist should also show that he is interested in the patient’s problems and is able to help him solve them. In addition, patients with suicide, homicide, and self-harm risks require special attention due to specific mental health conditions and behavioral features.
Patients with the Risks of Suicide
As a rule, patients who have risks of committing suicide differ from other clients. It is necessary to understand that the risk does not appear without reason. It is usually the consequence of other mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder, major depression, or abuse in the family (Baldessarini, 2019). Suicidal patients generally have behavioral disorders, they are passive and depressed, are not interested in anything, have few friends, or do not have them at all. It is also possible to distinguish such their characteristics as the lack of communication, insomnia, or the feeling of heaviness in the chest or other parts of the body.
Suicidal patients require the careful attitude of the specialist, but it can be hard to communicate with them due to either their reluctance to accept help or the fear of being judged (Baldessarini, 2019). That is why the specialist must assess the risks of a new client being suicidal during the greeting session. He should pay attention to the patient’s physical and emotional state and develop a communication strategy and further treatment for him.
Patients with the Risks of Homicide
Patients who may commit homicide, as a rule, are aggressive and lose control quite easily. That is why the specialist needs to stay calm during sessions and do not accept provocations. The specialist should listen to what the patient says, but not how he does that (Baldessarini, 2019). It is the only way to help such patients. In addition, the specialist should not take the insults or threats personally because aggressive patients target not him but the situation in general. He may also address the patient by name because its mentioning decreases the scale of his anger (Baldessarini, 2019). The client primarily seeks help and professional advice, so no judgment or aggressive methods should be involved in ordernot to deteriorate the case.
Patients with the Risk of Self-Harm
It is necessary for the specialist to see the connection between suicidal patients and patients with the risk of self-harm. It is already proven that people who intentionally harm themselves are more likely to commit suicide if they are not appropriately treated (Leather et al., 2020). Self-harm is usually accompanied by such mental health issues as depression, alcohol or drug addiction, and abuse. Hence, the specialist should be careful and gentle with such patients and not judge them to let self-harm risks become suicide-commitment risks. He must ensure the client that there is nothing wrong with him and the problem can be solved.
Conclusion
Clients with suicide, homicide, or self-harm risks differ from the other clientele specialists may face. The common thing about these problems is that they are not the reason but the consequence of abuse or severe mental illnesses such as major depression and bipolar disorder. It is necessary to remember that the signs of these issues are noticeable, and in many cases, people who suffer from them wordlessly seek help. Hence, it is vital not to ignore them and, what is more important, not to judge them because professional assistance and advice are the best ways to solve the problem.
References
Baldessarini, R. J. (2019). Epidemiology of suicide: recent developments. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences.7(29). doi: 10.1017/S2045796019000672
Leather, J. Z., O’Connor, R. C., Quinlivan, L., Kapur, N., Campbell, S., Armitage, C., J. (2020). Healthcare professionals’ implementation of national guidelines with patients who self-harm. Journal of psychiatric research, 130, 405-411. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.08.031