Forum
I'm a Counsellor working in private practice and am new to this forum. I have been practising for many years, but a recent experience reminded me of the need to consider personal safety. I work alone in an office building in the evenings. I recently had a very troubled client for an initial consultation who was very hostile and walked out without paying. Apart from being a very unpleasant experience it got me thinking about the issue of what I could do to improve my safety. I would welcome ideas from other practitioners as to how they deal with this issue.
Hi, i worked shifts in the city centre for years...very dangerous place to be at night on your own....i always made sure the security gaurd of the building knew where i was and i used to put his phone number on my phone ready to call so i could just press the call button if something happened....
have you considered a self-defence course? i hear krav-maga (think correct spelling) is really great for boosting confidence and ability to defend yourself etc.
I think everyone in practice, should consider worst case scenarios in their place of work, and what they would do, and ensure that they have a plan in place to ensure their safety, this is a very good point.
Hiya
Can you find a buddy who will ring you at a set time, and could you use a trigger word or sentence if there's anything wrong? Could you ring this buddy when you get home - you know the sort of thing, 3 rings and you're OK?
Or could you get someone to sit in reception while the clients are there?
We have a situation we're not happy with, in that we lock the door so things don't get nicked and we get "undesirables..." and all that, but we feel we're locking out as opposed to locking in. There's an intercom on order but it's not here yet!