Tooting my own horn

I know it's probably not the most selfless thing to do. But I just wanted to share a story. I've talked about the 14 year old client I see several times now. I'm not supposed to have favorites, but she is one of my favorite clients...and I don't say that about very many teenage girls! God uses her to constantly challenge what I think about myself and how I let my view of myself be tainted by what I think other people see. I was pretty nervous about my session with her today because I had accidentally shared something with her mom last week that I didn't know she hadn't told her mom. And the information did not make her mom very happy. So, I was nervous today because I thought my client might be mad at me. But she wasn't. Phew! We played a Jenga type game that has questions to answer for each block you take. I had to answer a question that was something like, "What is one day you wish you could erase or take back?" So, I answered the question and then she answered the question too (something she did not have to do). It was an insightful answer that allowed us to tangent from the game (the ultimate purpose of the game is to hopefully spark conversation) for quite a while. She talked about poor choices she has made and how she would go back to the moment where she made the first poor choice and not do it. After we had talked about that for a few moments and really talked through some of the choices she has made since then, she asked me if I am ever shocked by something a client has said to me. The way she worded the question was a little confusing to me, so she clarified for me by saying that she can tell me things that she can't tell anyone else because I don't get upset with her or appear shocked by what she says. It made me feel really good to know that this is how she feels, because it's kind of the purpose of my job but I haven't had a lot of clients say they felt that way. So, apparently I'm doing something right! And that allowed us to tangent even further from the game to talk about how she feels when she tells her mom some of these things and ways she wishes her mom would respond differently. Altogether, a very good session and one that I will have a very easy time writing the note tomorrow. Oh, and I didn't tell her that sometimes the things she tells me does shock me, I just keep my shock to myself! :)