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June 26, 2008
Off and on the rails
During this last week I worked with a supervisee who presented the following case.
During a two-day training workshop, a coachee, let's call her Doris, became very distressed and in fact experienced a significant and extreme psychological reaction, later described as a possible psychosis. Amongst other symptoms, Doris reported that she had fainted in the shower at home, been unable to sleep or eat properly, had disturbing dreams and seriously feared that there was a conspiracy theory being acted out within the training group. All of this was new and exceptional behaviour for her.
My client the supervisee, let's call him David, stayed calm. He contacted me the following morning and we agreed that he needed to ensure his client contacted her GP and seek additional psychiatric help if recommended. David and the team running the training programme kept each other informed and were very supportive of each other. They also made sure that the other delegates were supported, without disclosing confidential information about Doris.
What struck me when David was telling me the story was how I felt my adrenalin pulsing through my system. My heart beat quickened, my breathing became shallower and faster. And I heard alarm bells in my head as he described what had happened. This was not just some brief blip.
I shared all this with him for a number of reasons: partly to offer another reaction, partly to empathise with his own anxiety and concern, partly to inform us both through the parallel process of what might have been happening in the client system as a whole (delegate, rest of the group, coach trainer, colleagues), and finally to alert us both to the potential seriousness of what was happening.
So, what a rich experience. And what do we do with this? Doris is now "back on the rails" (my words – interesting metaphor).
David has shared with me his own emotional reaction to this experience. We both agreed that it would be good to have an extra session to reflect on the whole process and what learning we have gained. Some questions for reflection include:
> What worked?
> What could my supervisee have done differently?
> What else might he do next time?
> Could this have been pre-empted?
> What triggers may have been pulled, consciously or unconsciously, during the training programme?
> Any other questions that emerge.
> And let's research some more about possible psychological disorders, how to spot them and what to do about them.
Posted by Alison at June 26, 2008 10:41 AM
