Muddle, it's funny but I think when they thank us for something now it is actually more meaningful then when things were "normal" in the R. It takes more for them to do it therefore it has more meaning. I'm glad your W showed that kind of caring for you yesterday. As far as her work issue, it's great that she allowed you to process it with her. One thing I am learning in the counselling courses I am taking is how to help people without giving advice or opinion. It's tough to do but actually helps the individual find an answer that is theirs! Asking things like "what would you like to happen instead?", "how could you make that happen, even just a little bit", "have you ever dealt successfully with this kind of situation in the past? What did you do to make that happen?" and of course, one must validate the others feelings at all times. The beauty of it is you aren't telling people what to do but helping them to steer their own boat! I'm using this with my kids (at times) and my D said she liked doing it because we were talking about the things she was doing right, not the things she was doing wrong! It's called looking for an exception to the problem e.g. even when a person is chronically depressed there are days where they feel a bit better, what is happening on those days? Can those things be repeated? It's difficult to explain the concept in a small post but I thought I'd pass on what I could. I hope it is of some help!
