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From: Russ Hicks
Date: 01 Oct 2009
Time: 08:19:23 -0500
Remote Name: 71.252.253.154
Karen - again, The journey from victim to survivor to thriver can be a long one, no doubt. And the key words along that journey are "motivation" and "choice." To motivate a teenager is harder than making peace in the Middle East. What a job! But ultimately motivation is an INTERNAL process, not one which can be rammed down a teenager's throat, tempting though that approach might be. At that age, the young person is finally beginning to come to grips with the choices he (or she) can make to affect the course of his own life. He can CHOOSE to remain in the victim mode and suffer for the rest of his life. He can also choose to take ACTION and move into survivor mode. Without action, there is no movement. A fellow named Sachin (above) said it so beautifully: "Accepting with all our being and then calmly doing something about it." It's a choice you make. All a clinician can do is to explain that in as clear a language as she can to the young person and HOPE that he will eventually CHOOSE to take action. But this has to be the client's choice. No amount of head banging (either yours or his!) will force that choice to be made. This is hard work, isn't it? But this is why you get paid the big bucks for the work you do! :)