UnAccomplished but impactful…
Sometimes you show up to an “organizing job” that changes your way of thinking. I recently showed up to a clients home that prefaced the job with “Please do not judge me. I am so ashamed of how my home looks. I need help.” And, of course, my initial response is and always will be “I never judge anyone for anything! I put understanding and care before anything else.” When I showed up for our session, I could already feel a somewhat negative energy radiating to the outside of the home. I rang the doorbell, the client came to the door, and immediately began sobbing. She was going through A LOT! She talked about being a cancer survivor (twice), she dealt with prior/current abuse, she was recovering from recent hospital stays for blood disorders and on top of all of this she is trying to move out of her childhood home. The entire first half of our session, I simply sat and listened. She was suffering physically and mentally. This really hit me hard. I had so much empathy for her situation and what she was going through. I just wanted to help in whatever way I could, even if it was just to lend an ear to listen. After a long talk, we finally began walking through the home to consider whether our session was the right fit for her. As we did this, I was taking mental notes and answering all her questions. She told me many times that she believes herself to be a “hoarder”. I do not make these assumptions based on appearance, hoarding is something that should be diagnosed by a professional (definitely not me). However, she did claim that it is very hard for her to get rid of things because they all hold value to her. It became apparent while we were having our consult that I may not be able to perform this session, however I always like to really consider all possibilities before making that decision. We decided to try to clear a small section of ONE of her rooms. She found it INCREDIBLY hard to get rid of or donate anything in her possession at this time. Because of this, we decided that my services would not be the right fit for her. I made sure to talk to her and told her it will all be ok. She was given information for other services that will help with her mental state and how this is affecting her surroundings. I was very upset that I could not help her more, but I hope that just being there and comforting her was enough to make her a little better off. There are times when you have to let your ego down because there are some things that are just not in your area of expertise. It is more important to put people with others who can REALLY help them. I wished her the very best and was saddened that I could not help her more. I still think about this client often.
