Dealing with people who operate in highly toxic and stressful environments is no easy task. This is all the more true and hard-hitting if you’re a professional stress management consultant, because it’s inevitable that you will face people who might take their grievances out on you.
Handling such people is quite a challenge. However, it won’t become too much so if you learn to play your cards right and not let other people’s negativity get the better of you. After all, you chose this profession, so hopefully you prepared for the onslaught before you entered it.
Being an effective stress management consultant entails having the level of patience that is higher and longer than most people. When your clients lash out on you, you can’t lash back at them, because it’s your job to make them feel secure and find their centers. If you find that you are unable to deal with these kinds of people, then being a stress management consultant is not for you.
What makes a good stress management consultant?
Below are few tips to help you keep your cool and sanity, while trying to help people keep theirs.
– Smile and think positive
Understand that your clients have come to seek your help because they want to find out what exactly is bothering them and what can be done to eliminate their stressors. How you respond to their complaints and concerns is very important in achieving this goal. If you assume a negative veneer at the start of the session, then it is not likely that you will be able to boost your client’s morale. Thus, you must always be in a positive mood and seek the bright side of things when you’re in session.
– Stop talking and start listening
These people came to you to air their grievances. If they had wanted someone to berate them for their mistakes and the way they handle things, they would have gone to their overbearing and meddling relatives. The reason they came to you is because they know that you will handle their concerns in a very professional manner. That is, you first let them talk and only after which will you give your recommendations.
– Do not pass judgment
As a stress management consultant, it’s your duty to make the client feel secure in your presence and make suggestions based on your assessment of their tolerance level and coping capacity. You’re not there to pass judgment on them. Reacting to the way they handled things before they came to ask for your help is unprofessional and highly unethical.
Being a stress management consultant, you should place prime importance on professionalism. While it’s okay for you to engage yourself on a more personal level with your client, it’s unethical to get too close that you tend to take one-sided approach to his or her situation. Getting too close to a client will make you biased and judgmental. Hence, you must be actively listening and participating in stress management sessions, while keeping a good distance when it comes to your personal lives.
Remember, the session is about them and their grievances. It’s not about you. The focus of your sessions should be on them. While it’s okay for you to give examples, render them in such a way that it doesn’t overpower your client’s presence.