Strategies for Managing Difficult Clinical Situations in Between Sessions

Therapists often have to deal with situations that make them uneasy to leave their clients on their own. They can go home and wonder what their clients are doing, whether they are safe, have a place to stay, even whether or not they are fighting. These thoughts can be overwhelming for the therapist. They may think about their clients' safety, they may also be worried about their own professional way of dealing with these situations, and its implications for them as clinician. The aim of this paper is to assist therapists to manage their own anxiety and to help them help their clients in between sessions in difficult situations such as suicidality, child abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, crisis and stress management.