More likely than not when you get your first job in the mental health field or even when you're in the practicum or internship stage. You will be working with co workers that are not in the mental health field.
Now what does this mean some of you are asking. Well it can mean that sometimes they don't talk to the client or make decisions for the client with a mental health in mind or even with their emotions and feelings in mind.
For example for those of you who work in the school system and you have to retrieve your clients directly from class. Sometimes run to teachers who won't let you take the clients out of class or will put stipulations on how long you have to work with your clients. This puts a strain on your therapeutic relationship because on the one hand the teacher is putting a time constraint on your session or they're not letting you have your session at all.
One way to deal with that situation would be to speak to the instructor first and see if there's anything that can be worked out ahead of time. Of course if this doesn't work the only other way to go about it is to talk to the principal and let them know that this particular instructor is blocking your ability to provide quality services to the students.
Another way that you can deal with coworkers who aren't necessarily thinking of the clients well being is to ask your supervisor if you could do a seminar or a short presentation on empathy. Empathy of course in its simplest sense is the ability to put yourself in somebody else's shoes. This can enable your coworkers to think about the actions or words they're about to say to your clients before they do.
Another even more layman's way of saying empathy is the golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you otherwise known as treat people the way that you would like to be treated. More often than not this way at least gets your coworkers to stop and think about the things they are doing and saying to your clients.
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