7. Bonita’s Protective Suit

Here is an example of how the humanistic approach can help a social worker, Bonita. It keeps her commitment to her client. At the same time, it stops her from being burnt out as a part of her protective suit (see Motivational Work Part 1: Values and Theory, pages 44 -45).

Case Study

Carmen, 35, is a single mother with three children from two husbands. She has been divorced for two years. Carmen has no professional experience; however, as in both marriages, she was a housewife. Both her husbands were violent and cheated her out of money. After the last divorce, she contacted a social worker, Bonita, 50, for financial help. Since then, Bonita has tried to motivate her to look for work and earn a living.

Negative Feedback

To begin with, Bonita tells Carmen that if she is to continue receiving financial help, she must try getting work experience at an elderly people’s home. Carmen accepts but quits after two months. She complains of having pains in her shoulders and back, which she puts down to a work-related attritional injury.

One and a half years pass, and Carmen still complains of aches and pains. She says that they prevent her from working or participating in activation projects. Also, she maintains that Bonita is to blame for her chronic condition since it was her that forced her to do the work.

Lacking the Protective Suit – Hopelessness

Failure of Communication

Her client’s attitude instills a sense of hopelessness in Bonita, who feels that she and Carmen cannot communicate. She also feels upset and insecure about all the criticism. Bonita manages to send Carmen to a pain clinic, where doctors cannot locate the cause of her pain. She shouldn’t, they say, be in pain at all. Carmen is always very reticent in meetings with Bonita and only speaks when spoken to. Her attitude is that everyone is against her and wishes her harm.

Insufficient Participation

During one session, Carmen suddenly offers to participate in an activation project. Bonita is pleasantly surprised and helps her client to get involved. After two months, the project personnel refused to let her continue. Carmen only joined in on certain parts of the project that didn’t require much active input, such as the counseling sessions and the leisure activities.

Refusal to Work

Carmen also refuses to get work experience. From having hoped for a change in her client, Bonita reverts to a state of hopelessness. She has no idea how to continue motivating Carmen to take control of her life.

Summary

To sum up, because Bonita lacks a protective suit, she loses hope for her client. She has no positive energy to balance the negative feedback she receives from Carmen.

Building the Protective Suit

Bonita takes up her client in her supervision group. There she is reminded that Carmen has a positive core. Deep down, Carmen seeks deliverance from her “client” role, such as her belief in the humanistic approach. Bonita is also given some tips on dealing with Carmen face-to-face when she is dismissive and silent.

This brings her out of her hopelessness and imbues her with greater optimism. Although the feelings of hopelessness remain, they are residual, and she sees ways of progressing with her client. She needs to believe in her client’s positive core. In this way, she is creating her protective suit.

The Protective Suit has more Parts

All the time, Bonita has her own belief that Carmen can be motivated. However, she also needs support from her supervisor and colleagues to sustain her faith and continue building her protective suit. The protective suit has more parts than the humanistic approach, but hope is essential. It will take some time before she completely integrates the value, “No one is hopeless”. This process is made more accessible when she attends the supervision group.