Get out of the office…move around please!!!!

Get out of the office…move around please!!!!
So today I arrived to work after my 3 days off. Once again the clients were screaming at each other, and just out of control.
Their out of control made the new CI quite her job in her first day.
I have been notice that something is wrong, but I never know what was. What I know is every Wednesday the clients are crazy.
Made me wonder how I left them OK at Saturday and how come Wednesday when I came back they are just acting out.
I look at their faces and they are exhausted, depress!!!!
So today I had a group about “negative garbage” and I decided to ask them what is going on.
They answer was:
“When you are not here this unit become a complete chaos, and everyone starts to do what they want.
When you are around this doesn’t happen because you bring us structure, and you treat us equal. “
My answer was: but you have more 3 counselors on duty, why are you saying that I am the only one who brings you structure???
“Because you are the only one who cares. When is a problem on the unit you go there and you tried to find out.
You talk with us and you go inside of our inner child”
So dear colleagues, what this is telling us???
Am I the best counselor in the universe????
NO I AM NOT!
What do I do?
I connect with clients.
My colleagues they spend their day inside of the office. Rarely do they come outside. They spend too much time on the computer, talking with each other, etc
This is what I do:
I start my work Wednesday, and right way I start to do individual sessions. At Thursday 5 pm I am done with individual sessions, and then Friday and Saturday I spent my time around the clients.
I sit with them, and I become one of them.
Become one of them????
Yes!
I just sit around and we talk about superficial stuff.
We talk, we play, we laugh, and we listen to music, and dance.
I am the counselor, I am the staff, but I also make myself leave the office and go meet the clients in a more deep way. The only way to do that is make myself one of them.
This is called - building trust.
See, when I am doing an individual session the client acts the way she thinks I want her to act.
She is nervous, anxious because she knows at that moment I am analyzing her. So I just get half of her.
When I am around them I get much more, because they are relax, so they give me much more information about them.
They also know when I am serious I am serious and they don’t play with me, or make me fool.
Normally at 8 am of the morning I sit with them in the morning meeting. Why?
Simple, to see how they are doing, what concerns they are going to bring.
I just choose to connect with them.
For them structure means they know what expect from me.
They know that I am going to make sure the rules and regulations are going to be follow, but they also know that I am going to have fun with them if everything is going ok.
I believe I am become what my mentor wish for me - the middle counselor - not too bad - not too good
I know isn’t “middle”, I know is another word that I just can’t remember now.
One of the things I am realizing is I am become for them a leader.
I am not trying to be pretentious, but how you explain all the counselors are in the office, and the clients when they have a question, a problem, a need, they just say my name, and they just ask me?????
So we are 5 counselors on the duty, and they come to the door and is always, Miss V. ( my name)
So here is my advice….. Connect with the clients.

Investigate what you need to investigate in order to bring the unit together and healthy.
Don’t let things go to far.
Don’t have favorites, and don’t protect your clients or hide information about your clients.
Show clients that you are also a human being.
Don’t split staff, even if you don’t like each other please come together and not dysfunctional. They already are coming back from a dysfunctional family, so they don’t need that again.
When you are about to have your days off, please, before you go relate with staff about everything you may think is important to tell. That will prepare the other staff who is coming in.
See what is going on in their world. Don’t make yourself better or low than them…
Equal!!!!

Yes you are a counselor….
No, you are not a client….
This is not about that, don’t take it personal….. Is all about - building trust!
Done ;)
And now stay with my baby....ADAM LAMBERT.