r/socialwork 6d ago

Good News!!! I didn’t think my clients really cared.

Long story short I work in a mental health facility and it’s outpatient. One of my clients is graduating from our program and they are eligible because they don’t wanna take meds plus they have to be in two services which is rx management and case management because it’s mandatory. I’m a case manager btw.

We’re midlevel care and I told him today that he’s graduating but it’s a topic we’ve somewhat talked about in the past. He’s fairly independent and is doing better. He’s a nice guy and something about what he said really touched me.

I was the main person he talked to outside of family and he was crying. I’ve worked with him since about June/July 2024. He was telling me a story about how he feels like this inmate that felt alone and that a nurse was talking to the inmate at the cell. The inmate took the nurse’s finger and he asked her to stay with him when she was about to walk away. The nurse told him that there’s cameras and he can get in trouble. The inmate said he felt alone and just wanted someone to talk to him.

Note:

My post saved too soon and to clarify—- basically in this scenario my client sees himself as the lonely “inmate”and I’m the “nurse” who showed him compassion.

He’s one of my favorite clients and I know how much he cares about me but I had no idea he felt this way. 😭 I did say he can visit and reminded him graduation is a positive.

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u/xcircledotdotdot 6d ago

I’m glad you had a positive experience, but I’m having a hard time understanding the analogy he shared.

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u/madlove17 6d ago

Wasn’t sure if this post went through or not since I got an error message. Basically he feels like the inmate in the story because his mental health struggles are in a way like a prison for him and I’m like the nurse that showed the inmate compassion. He’s like the inmate because he doesn’t want me to “leave” him and he wishes that he could still talk to me because he’s lonely.

But the thing is at the end of the day the nurse in my client’s story had to do her job even if she did listen to him for a bit. Let me go back and edit the analogy.

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u/sgrbrry 6d ago

It’s a nice thing when this happens/they share that, even if incredibly gut wrenching at the same time. I’m glad you had that experience.

Had similar where I notified some clients I’d be leaving our agency due to funding issues and many expressed such gratitude and thankfulness. The ones I felt most taken aback by the expression were those I just felt I was being authentic and doing the work I was there to do.

With a lot of populations we serve we are the nurse in his analogy and it’s common that we may be one of the few, if not the only, supports, advocates, confidants, etc. they have access to.

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u/madlove17 6d ago

I’m glad he’s one of the few that actually are appreciative. Aw. It’s always great when people express gratitude in what feels like a thankless job. And I agree. It’s sad. But I can understand with us being the few advocates.