Supervision: "Scariest Patient"

Since it was Halloween recently, during Art Therapy supervision, I asked everyone to portray their scariest patient. Since we work with sex offenders, often, we experience "scary" or "creepy" patients. This directive helped the therapists be more aware of feelings that are aroused by the patients we serve, and to discuss countertransference. Some therapists focused on the physical aspects of the patients, and others were influenced by actions and behaviors of a patient. For example, one therapist talked about a patient who engaged in bizarre and sometimes disgusting behaviors, and we discussed how he may do that as a protective measure since he was just admitted from prison where sex offenders are disliked and often harrassed by other inmates.