How do you know when someone is really ready for therapy? Or do you just assume they’re ready because they walked in the door?
The therapist is the one who has to be ready. Calm, clear, open, attentive, and ready for the person who walked in the door. No assumptions, no judgments, just unconditional presence. This human, unique in all the world, certainly knows therapy is expensive – time, money, and personal vulnerability in an unfamiliar setting, with a stranger. And still, they walked in the door.
They’ve already decided they’re ready. That’s their privilege, not mine.
They are ready for something – some connection, some communication, but neither of us yet knows what or who that will be, could be. We’ll sort out what that connection we call “therapy” will look like, and where the person is ready to go, not whether. Maybe they’ll launch into a review of their issues, or maybe they’ll chit-chat with small talk – up to them, and it depends entirely on what they are “ready for” when they walk in the door. That’s almost certain to change, but it’s their choice, and our honor and responsibility.