When the Cleaning Process Stalls: Helping clients through temporary loss of focus before it becomes permanent...

"Are we done yet?"

For many clients, the initial excitement and results of the initial phase of cleaning up and re-acquainting themselves with floor space, shelves, beds, tables, etc., can support early momentum and motivation for continuing cleaning up and clearing out rooms and spaces. But what happens when the motivation fails? When the big stuff is addressed and what remains is the small objects and smaller spaces like cabinets, closets, drawers and crawl spaces, how do we best support clients through the more tedious and less visible results that are still important to the process?  Thankfully, having hit these points many times in many years, we've realized there are several options that are open for helpers and support staff to assist clients over this motivation hurdle.

Option 1:

Cleaning vacay! Time to refocus and revisit goal setting.  Clients may disengage from the process at this point if attention is not paid to the loss of motivation.  Clients may begin to think, "When is this ever going to end? How much longer do I have to do this? Why is this important?" Much like any parent sitting on a long road trip with a few kids in the car asking, "Are we there yet?", we cannot leave these questions unanswered or ignore the warning signs of clients disengagement. Given I was the kid in the middle of the back seat of the station wagon, and usually the one asking if we were nanoseconds away from our destination, the response from my parents which was usually, "Almost there" which might have sufficed for about 5 or 7 minutes but that was about it.  As the driver in the car, we see the speedometer, we see the road signs telling us how many kilometres are left, some of us can even manage basic math to figure out how many minutes are left on our trip (I am not one of those people). And let's be honest, we ask ourselves when we'll arrive even if we're the ones driving and flip our attention to the GPS or our clock to figure out just how much longer our trip is. The bottom line here is if we're the ones driving the process, the clients are following us - this can be good or this can be bad if the clients are beginning to feel we have taken over the process and they are followers of our plan for their homes. I would encourage switching up the process to more stationary one-on-one discussion that encourage client reflection, growth, and accomplishments achieved thus far and less time spent cleaning, sorting and organizing. This time spent in reflection can be critical to helping reinforce a clients sense of personal accomplishment and may serve to reinvigorate client motivation.  Typically a few sessions committed to talking, sharing, laughing, reflecting and just being two people in a room who have shared in a project can go a very long way to bolstering a client's efforts again.

Option 2:

If you have been helping the clients stash away their 'no contest items' (this will be discussed more in my next article but if you're insatiably curious about this, please send me a message and I'll share a sneak preview) now is the time to sit back, make use of one of the cleared spaces I'm hoping you would have achieved prior to this 'loss of motivation' point, and just let the client show you their passions. Helping the client organize these items, talk about these items and create one, and I repeat one, project with you helps a client feel like all of the work in sorting, reducing, and clearing out space has allowed them to finally complete something that they had been hoping to work on for potentially many years.  BE AWARE - this can be risky depending on the items or projects that a client identified as priorities in the first place. 7 years ago, one of my clients 'collected' broken dining room sets complete with hutches and cabinets. Of the 5 partial sets in her 2 bedroom condo, and untold extra chairs and various table leaves, this would not have been ideal to work on for many reasons. However, this client was also a gardener and to utilize the garden space that was planted and awaiting weeding would have been ideal in these circumstances.  I say "would have" given four of us found out the hard way the medical issues that can result from unseen bio hazards and the focus of the clean-out became  necessary removal of all items that were contaminated. Truly unfortunate but ultimately necessary for health and safety of the home owner. But I digress. The focus of option two is to permit a breather from cleaning and reducing items to again the relationship building, supporting a client in achieving a successful project on a smaller scale, and to rebuild motivation for the remaining work to be completed.  It is important to connect the ability to complete the project within the space that created to permit the client to realize the connection of the two outcomes. Allow the client to congratulate themselves, share their project and enjoy their success. Aim to complete a project with a client that can be completed in 1-3 sessions. The beneficial bi-product of this option is helping a client to realize how long a project may actually take to complete and the effort required (more on supporting client's reorientation to time will be discussed in future articles).

Option 3:

Get creative with a client!  Go for lunch or coffee, work on life skills such as making a meal together or baking something together, or even better, ask a client what they would like to do with your time together.  I have done anything from baking bread with a client and making crock pot meals to client-led fashion shows that high-lighted the fashion from the 1960s onward. Oh, to be able to say that I have worn the same size of clothing for 50 years! Don't take it personal if the client asks for a couple of days off. Remember that you have become a regular presence in their lives and for all of your skills and talents, they may just need a break. Agreeing to a couple of sessions break may be very beneficial for the client's energy level and personal reflection of the process. It is important to agree on a return date with the client and I would also strongly encourage discussing a light activity that you anticipate the client will look forward to when you re-connect. This will hopefully help the client remain connected with you and continue on with the therapeutic process.

For all of the above suggestions, what is most important is that we anticipate the loss of motivation will occur (often more than once), we recognize the need to rebuild motivation as we work through the process to prevent client disengagement, and we are open to creative solutions to help clients challenge themselves further.  These three options are just a few of the many options available and you may even have a few that you would like to share that have worked well for you. As a side note, many more topics and issues related to motivation will be discussed in future articles so stay tuned for further information!  If you have any suggestions about topics you would like discussed, please do not hesitate to let me know and I will gladly share whatever wisdom and learning I have achieved in the past decade in conjunction with the best practices that are employed in the counselling field. Until then, I wish everyone a great weekend and I will post again on Tuesday August 23, 2016 to discuss the concept of No Contest Items and their importance in the early phases of the therapeutic process.