How to navigate your client’s unexpected tears ?
Here’s a fun fact to brighten your day: Did you know there are actually two kinds of tears? One is the reflex kind, like when an eyelash invades your eye and suddenly you’re blinking like crazy. The other is emotional, the kind that sneaks up when feelings overflow and you just can’t hold back the waterworks. Now, imagine that emotional moment happening in a therapy room. You’re the therapist, and your client suddenly bursts into tears. What’s your move? Do you freeze like a deer in headlights or silently panic? Honestly, I’d probably do both (lol 😅). But as therapists, now or in the future, we’re called to do more than just sit there, right? So in order to navigate it better, let us understand the concept of “tears” or your client “breaking down unexpectedly” in a session in different sets of circumstances and situations. Starting from here, we would be exploring different therapy sessions with different clients.
Session 1:
Client details: MC, male, 20 years.
Presenting Problems: Attachment issues, college stress.
Now, if you, as a therapist, were in such a situation, and it’s your 4th session with this client. And as the session goes on, this client slowly and unexpectedly break down. What could you, as a therapist, do in such a situation ? Here are some of my suggestions:
Give them space; no need to fill the silence.
If they need it, offer a tissue as a small gesture of comfort.
Once they’re at ease, gently ask, “How do you feel after opening up?”.
Session 2:
Client details: SM, Gender (not preferred to share), 25 years.
Presenting Problems: Questioning their gender identity, body dysmorphia, recently diagnosed with GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder).
This client has weathered many storms, and now, in their 10th session, you notice emotions rising to the surface, tears shimmering in their eyes. Here is how I would approach this delicate moment:
Give space for tears and guide them through a grounding exercise afterward.
Session 3:
Client Details: NM, Female, 25 years.
Presenting Problems: Loneliness, low self-esteem.
It’s their 1st session with you, and they had pretty much poured their heart out. But exhaustion and repeating the same instances again and again trigger them even more, and hence they break down. What would be your suggestions that could possibly help them overcome this ? Some of mine would look like this:
Let the client know that feeling tired is normal and reassure her she’s not alone.
Talk about her strengths, like her ability to live on her own.
Wrap up the session by working together to create a plan for the upcoming one.
Now that we know on what to do in a therapy session, here are some don’t’s in the same:
Don’t say don’t cry.
Don’t try to fix their emotional state.
Don’t panic.
If you made it this far, congratulations! You have just completed your first journey through hypothetical clients and sessions. Share your own approaches for handling these types of patients, we would love to hear from you. Until our next adventure in learning, take care, you wonderful human beans!
