3 Ways You Can Help Your Client Accept Themselves

Part of the healing process involves learning to accept new circumstances. For people who have had a brain injury, stroke, or are diagnosed with a psychological disorder, lack of acceptance may actually make recovery more difficult. In this blog post, we share with you 3 ways that you can help your client learn to accept themselves.

A Medical Condition isn’t Everything.

Some people may feel that experiencing a life changing event such as a stroke or an episode of psychosis will define them forever. It can, but only if a person lets this happen or if this is what they want to define them. You can help your client learn that a medical condition is just one small piece of who they are and that they are made up of a lot of different components that can characterize their identity. It is helpful to remind them that they are in control of how they define themselves and that they can make choices about how they would like to define themselves any time they would like. 

It Does get Better, Be Gracious

Some people may feel that experiencing a life changing event such as a stroke or an episode of psychosis will define them forever. It can, but only if a person lets this happen or if this is what they want to define them. You can help your client learn that a medical condition is just one small piece of who they are and that they are made up of a lot of different components that can characterize their identity. It is helpful to remind them that they are in control of how they define themselves and that they can make choices about how they would like to define themselves any time they would like. 

Help Them See the Good within Themselves

People are often their own worst critics. Many times, people do not focus enough on the good qualities they have and pay more attention to the negative. Take time with your client to help them identify and learn about their strengths. Help them take these strengths and pay more attention to them. If your client is having trouble doing this, you may want to share what you notice in them to help them get started. A technique you can use to help them practice and reaffirm these thoughts is having them say to themselves 3 things they like about themselves every day. 

Conclusion

Sometimes, clients may have difficulty accepting themselves when they receive a diagnosis of a medical condition. Sometimes, this diagnosis may overpower their identity, but it does not have to. Part of helping your clients heal involves helping them accept themselves for who they are while also maintaining a positive attitude towards their therapeutic process. By helping your client learn that a medical condition does not have to define them, life gets better despite not being perfect and allowing them to see the good within themselves. You can help your client accept themselves and maintain a positive outlook on their therapeutic recovery and their life.