Recently I realized I had to have a potentially hard conversation with one of my jobs I am contracted with. This company that I work provides incredibly important help to individuals and families. My job as a licensed counselor is to write up a Comprehensive Clinical Assessment and sign the document with my credentials.
The CCA itself can be very time consuming as it has to be written to match criteria of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual and match the symptoms the client is presenting. I had a terrific teacher who was patient with me to when I was up to speed and was able to write a CCA without any supervision.
As I write this, it sounds pretty simple and straight forward. The issue is that there is incredible demand for people who are needing this service and not many counselors who take the time to fill out the document as it is so time consuming with note taking kept to a minimum.
The good news for me is that I have sort of a niche in that I have a reputation for writing these well. While I will not call it bad news, but rather the reality is since there is so much demand it can get overwhelming quickly.
What had happened the day before is that someone called me literally at 4:59pm the following day saying I had to write three CCA’s due that morning. This was simply too much, and my first thought was to cut ties with this company. This hard conversation took place two days ago. As I have gotten older, I have realized that it is better to have conversation immediately as I am not anticipating so much how it may go.
I stated my problem which is that I simply could not write up what was requested in the time it was due. I stayed away from saying that I wanted to cut ties with the company, but if I did not feel heard, I had no qualms bringing that up. Instead, what happened is the person who was listening to me understood me perfectly.
As a result, I did not end up cutting ties with the company, even though I was prepared to do so. Since we were both able to voice our expectations and boundaries, a great resolution presented itself. Essentially, I realized I needed way more notice than “this is due the next day.” What was decided is that I would know two weeks ahead of when a CCA was due.
This way both the director of this company and myself were able to voice what would be a feasible and realistic solution. Nine times out of ten a hard conversation is going to go much smoother when a person states the problem and the constraints it is causing in a non-confrontational manner. The rest is for both parties to find how they are willing to change to come to a mutual solution. Given that is easier said than done and a topic for the next blog post.
Is there a hard conversation you have been avoiding? Let’s talk about it!
If you are looking for a therapist near you then a Google search is a great way of finding one. I happen to be a therapist in Charlotte, NC but am licensed to counsel anyone in the state of North Carolina. In Google, try looking for “psychotherapist,” “find therapist,” “therapy near me,” or even “counseling charlotte, nc.” If you feel like you have hit a wall you are not able to get past, call me at (704) 458-6298 or email me at jeffhelms@clearerthoughtspllc.com.
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