I want is something that we learn to communicate from a young age. Babies point and babble to tell a parent that they want. Children are asked what they want for tea, to drink, for Birthdays and Christmas. Adults are what do they want from life, what kind of career do they wants and what do you want from your future. However wanting is different to having or actually doing.
We may want that drink or food but it may be unhealthy to you. We may want to take a certain career but it may not suit our work life balance to study for it now. We may want to go outside but our brain overthinks it, our heart pumps faster than normal, our hands begin to sweat and our memories showcase all of the times that it felt bad or it went wrong.
Social anxiety, or any anxiety, can be crippling but we try to offer a clock of invisibility (nice Harry Potter reference there for those non-muggles), a safe environment that may only be 2m wide but one that allows our clients a chance to “Just Go”. We speak a lot in our blogs about gaining trust through building a healthy relationship with our clients which then gives us a chance to help them step out of their comfort zone or to increase their comfort zone, this may be because we are there but it also gives them a chance to see if an increase is of future interest them on a permanent basis.
Today was a chance to see that trust in full effect, even if it could have seen our team member bringing up the content of their stomach. Tonight a client stepped out of their comfort zone because they had our team member. They had a chance to do something that we take for granted. They were able to do something that every “normal” person their age can do with the friendships that they have built due to them being socially able to. Our client headed to the local fair, despite knowing that people may see them, knowing that certain judgmental people may see them and knowing that people who may have caused upset in the past may see them. They donned their 6 foot 3 inch invisibility cloak that is our team member, they were able to be distracted by the bubbly (child like) personality of that team member and that team members craziness saw them take on the waltzers not once, not twice, not even three times but FOUR times in a row.
It didn’t matter who saw them. It didn’t matter that it was the same ride. It didn’t matter and that is because our team member had put in the hard work to build a trust. They had put in the hard work to build a bond that made our client feel safe and able to go on the one ride that they loved enough to go on again and again.
Sometimes we can find ourselves saying “just go then” when we hear people telling us that they want to go somewhere but if it was that easy then they would not be stood next to you telling you, they would be there already. We make it easier to go and do because we put the right person with the client who can build the right kind of relationship.
