Patient Discharge

Once, in supervision, we discussed one patient who would be discharged soon. There was some media about it, so I read an article about him to the group. Then, we all created an image about the situation based on our own impressions. The responses were varied, from a large eye representing him being under constant scrutiny, to an image about the public not wanting him in their neighborhoods, yet harboring their own secrets about the abuse that goes on in their own homes.  One image was about the stress the patient has to deal with, another about how controlled the patient is in his art work, perhaps to counterbalance all the things that are out of his control or his dislike for feeling out of control. The exercise helped staff feel empathy for the patient and illuminated ways to be supportive of him during this transitional time.