I Pity The Fool

Here’s my favorite thing that happened all week.
I’ve picked up two classes’ worth of counseling cases, now that (as some of you know) I’m no longer doing the testing that occupied about 90% of my time last year.  Yesterday was the first day that I really got into the mix.  Some students take counseling seriously, and even discuss deep issues and decision-making processes; others sit down, and when asked how I can help them, they shrug and say, "Counsel me!"
One student was going on and on and on about all the robberies he’s committed over the years.  He talked about how he thinks he should probably stop robbing people, because that can be dangerous(!)…if you rob the wrong person, they might hurt you, or even try to kill you (no mention was made about other people’s rights or any other aspect of the morality question)!  He continued by telling me, "I’ve never been hurt, pray God, no one’s ever tried to kill me, pray God," etc., etc., pray God, pray God, pray God.
Sometimes, I just can’t help myself- the humor leaks out. 
I mentioned that it sounded like he is a religious person, to which he responded in the affirmative.  Then I said something like, "Let me just ask you a question; don’t take this the wrong way, I’m just going to put this out there…" He nodded.  I looked at him carefully, and (all intentions of remaining nonjudgmental intact) said, "Do you think God wants you to rob people?"  He had to laugh- he knew I totally had him there.  I smiled.  He acknowledged that no, God probably don’t want him to rob no people.  We talked about this a little more, though I’m not sure we’ve moved beyond general acceptance of the theoretical principle.
I told everyone at work the story, and they all got a chuckle.  Also, the other clinicians there seemed to think it was totally fine for me to give the kid a bit of a reality check…we are always told to "treat every session as though it could be the last one," since we never know if a student is going to be moved to another part of the facility (or released).  While it’s important to be nonjudgmental (and more or less nondirective), it’s also important to be authentic in the relationship.  And I guess for me to be authentic, it requires a joke (half-serious or not) here and there…

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