Reflection In Social Work

This week I felt encouraged about my efforts and proved myself wrong. I felt as if I reached the moon. I have a client who is extremely depressed, she repeatedly displays significant low energy, speaks in a low and slow tone of voice. She does not make consistent eye contact. She sits still and stares at the ground most of the time when she speaks, her shoulders are slouched forward. I have tried for weeks to engage her and try to get a smile from her, but it is worthless, I thought. She reported that she doesn’t have any friends and feels strange in social situations.
Two weeks ago, we had a deep conversation about her grandfather being ill. She also disclosed for the first time that she used to cut in fifth grade. She is now in the ninth grade. Since that appointment she has not met me. My initial feelings during the first week, included: “she’s not coming back”, “did I say something that bothered her”. The second week, I certainly felt a hit to my ego. At this point I was concluding that perhaps she’s avoiding me, she doesn’t like me or that I am not doing a decent job as a therapist. By the third week, I had lost hope. I checked in with the
She stated that she also feared that she would scared them because of her appearance, so she usually stays away. She then disclosed that two of her little cousins sat next to her and wanted to play with her, but she didn’t know how to play or engage in play. Despite her feelings, she engaged in play and tried to play the role. She smirked and stated that they gave her two Barbie’s and she held them, but didn’t know what to do because she’s never played with Barbie’s or owned any. She smirked again and stated that her mother told her that she was holding the Barbie’s wrong and smiled