Bittersweet

With my passion with cooking, you'd think this entry would be about chocolate... but it's not. It's about something that happened yesterday at OnSite. I'd been treating this client for 6 or 7 weeks now and we've made remarkable progress together. They've also done a great job at taking care of themselves and seem to be taking a really positive path. I've known for a couple of weeks now that this particular client would be moving on to something else and I was excited for them.
Yesterday at OnSite was awesome (as it always is). I wasn't meant to go back but Andrea and I switched shifts... so she will be at George Pearson and I will stay at OnSite! We didn't think the Dean would agree to this but he did and it's made us both very very happy! Anyways I was tremendously grateful to be at OnSite and doing the work that I was doing. It touched me deeply and I think that may have been why I was extra sensitive. Either that or the lack of sleep... or a combination of both.
Well I saw this client for the last time and I asked them how they were doing. They expressed that they were feeling anxious and a bit nervous about their departure. I totally understood and I wanted to give them a hug. But of course, with boundaries and stuff, I didn't. I gave the best grounding massage that I could give yet still was kind of upset that it would be my last treatment with this client.
I spoke about this to an other health care professional and they told me to focus on the positive. That this individual is getting better and has made huge changes in their life. I like looking at it that way, however, I also really enjoyed working with that client.
I'll get over it. I know. I've had to part with other clients that have moved on (at Aurora and other outreaches) and I was fine. It's just always hard. I am not too sure if this gets easier... I don't know if I want it to get easier. I think it shows that I am human and I care. When we get numb to parting with someone that you've worked with then I feel that it makes you a little bit less of a compassionate therapist. And that's what I want to be.