Antioch University Seattle Core Faculty, Alumnus, and previous Chair of our Couple and Family Therapy program, Dr. Kirk Honda was recently consulted for an American Psychological Association featured article, “Coping With Challenging Clients”. This article appears both online and on page 55 in the print version of the July/August 2017 edition of Monitor on Psychology.
“Coping With Challenging Clients” opens with an anecdote from Honda about a time he experienced a “mini anxiety attack” while on the receiving end of hostile comments from two members (a father and daughter) of a therapy client family. He handled the situation by asking the clients to stop talking for a moment, giving himself a brief time out to calm down and collect his thoughts, and with the help of another member of the client family (the mother), he was able to repair his therapeutic relationship with the client family.
Honda advises the readers of this article to remember the importance of taking the high road when affected by client aggression, and to calm oneself rather than responding to hostility with hostility. Moreover, he argues that it can be fruitful to apologize to clients who are angry or dissatisfied with their therapists’ performance, “even if it doesn’t feel fair”. Honda says, “That can not only help de-escalate the situation, but can also further the ultimate goal of providing therapy”.
For more information about our Couple and Family Therapy program: http://bit.ly/2tR3pWm
For more information about our PsyD in Clinical Psychology program, of which Dr. Honda is a graduate: http://bit.ly/2sUPwVT
For the original article, “Coping With Challenging Clients”: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/07-08/challenging-clients.aspx
