Take your seats. It's time for today's lesson. Dealing with Challenging Clients 101
Now I have to give you a quick back story about this particular client. Let's call them Client (Hint: this is how professionals keep confidentiality; and typically how we document; no names).
So Client has been attending the program for a while, way since I started working there. Since I have started, I noticed that Client sometimes...HATES people. Not all people, they have decided to pick and choose someone to hate and it's different every day. But okay, thats fine, I understand the environment I work in and the population I work with and that means that sometimes, clients are going to have behaviours.
But in the last few months, these behaviours have skyrocketed!! Like OMG. So we document. EVERYTHING. Literally every negative or semi-negative behaviours or experience has been documented so that all of our i's are dotted and all of our t's are crossed.
Now it's getting to the point where, I do not want anything to do with this Client, for fear they will have an extreme behaviour and flip on a dime! So now I'm intimidated, the other clients are intimidated or have noticed the behaviours and notice the staff on edge..So we are dealing with it as per our workplace protocol.
Now, this post is not about this Client specifically. This Client is just MY Client right now. There will always be another Client. Another Client with a behaviour. Or another Client that doesn't like you, or another staff...
So how do you deal with "those kinds of Clients"? You don't. You can't always expect the behaviours to defy criteria and they can be discharged. You can't stop working with those clients just because they are challenging, or difficult. They may say terrible things to you, to others or they may just hate you and refuse programs from you. You have to just roll with it.
Since working in the field, I have developed a much thicker skin. I had to; I had no choice. I had clients straight up tell me that I was not good at my job, meanwhile, they are having a dementia lead behaviour and believe to be in a classroom back in the 1930s. I know I would make a terrible teacher, which is why I did not pursue teaching.
I have had clients tell me I am boarder line trash when they saw my tattoos, while other clients compare theirs to mine and we tell the stories of why we got them.
Every job will have its Clients. The ones that challenge you. The ones that make things unbearably difficult. The ones that make you hate your job. But it's only 1 Client (maybe 2 or 3) and it's only for a moment, or a day. You will have the above and beyond clients. The ones that pull on your heartstrings. The ones that make you feel like family. The ones you look forward to seeing every day or every week.
As the old, cheesy saying goes. Don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch.
So don't let a few challenging Clients ruin the love you have for your job. It's okay to feel discouraged or frustrated about a situation. Take a moment, and think about the rest of the bunch and that bad apple won't spoil it. Follow your organization's protocols, document, try alternative techniques.
Good luck!
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