DEALING WITH CLIENTS IN CRISIS

by Donna Cunningham, MSW

This insightful article appeared in Considerations volume VII number 3.

Donna Cunningham is a prolific author on different aspects of astrological counseling,

her many books include

An Astrological Guide to Self-Awareness

and Healing Pluto Problems.

Since the aster in disaster literally refers to the stars, we might infer that emergencies are often provoked by outer planet transits.  Thus, the professional astrologer, whose stock in trade is outer planet transits, needs to be prepared to deal with clients in crisis.  The crisis state is precipitated by some event or condition that poses an imminent threat to the client or a loved one.  Often a loss or anticipated loss is involved.  At times, conditions, which may have been difficult but bearable, suddenly become intolerable due to some new factor. For instance, a dysfunctional marriage may limp along for many years, both partners unhappy but too inert to make a move.  Then one partner falls ill or loses a job, and the resulting strain on the relationship tips the balance.

Clients in crisis are likely to be anxious, confused, and uncertain what to do. They feel overwhelmed, disorganized, and unable to cope with daily demands, much less the emergency at hand. Judgment may be impaired, and many have difficulty in making simple choices, much less the major life decisions that face them. They are likely to ask for advice and to be in a vulnerable state regarding your suggestions.  Many are very dependent at such times, although others will resist all help and advice.

Crisis also has its positive side.  In one of the eastern languages, the pictogram for crisis is made up of two characters, one for danger and the other for opportunity. While there is the danger of loss, there is also the opportunity to change undesirable patterns one is stuck in. People in crisis question old defenses and become ready to try a new way. Often, in the earliest stages, they simply do what has worked before.  When that fails, they do it harder. Only when old and known coping mechanisms have failed are they apt to look for a new solution. They are also more open to accepting outside help, so crisis is a prime moment for intervention. Since many who would be threatened at the idea of a therapist go to astrologers first, we are frequently in a key position to plant the seeds of change.

Whose Crisis is It?

Folks differ widely in what is vitally important and in what they perceive as catastrophic loss. What is a crisis for one person may be a way of life for another.  People vary in their ability to handle stress. Also, what an individual could cope with easily at one point in time may cause a breakdown at another point, after a series of blows. It is important not to impose your perceptions about what is or is not a crisis or about the severity of the threat. Instead, judge the severity by the client's reactions and by the client's own assessment. The reaction and the aftermath will also be different for different people.  So, first, you have to know who your client is. What does this loss or threat mean to them?  How are they likely to react? What strengths do they have and what vulnerabilities?

The chart is an invaluable source of answers to questions such as these, a wealth of information which the usual crisis counselor does not have available. For a strongly Uranian or Aquarian type, being fired from a job may be unimportant or part of a pattern that confirms how stupid and power hungry bosses are. For a strongly Saturnian or Capricornian individual, on the other hand, being fired from a job is a major  blow, regarded  as a failure and a humiliation. It can trigger a major depression.  For Saturnians, success can also be a crisis—they are vulnerable to depression after an accomplishment.  Help them to validate and cherish the accomplishment, but also to find another mountain to climb.

For a Cancerian, the death of a parent may be devastating, whether the relationship was good or bad. For a strongly Sagittarian person, it may be an anticipated part of the life cycle, eventually something to wax philosophical over.  The Sagittarian, however, may have a strong grief reaction at the loss of a spiritual teacher or the revelation that such a teacher has feet of clay. The worst kind of crisis for a Sagittarian or Jupiterian type is a crisis of faith. For a Libra Sun or Moon who has been married and deeply committed for twenty years, the end of a marriage may feel like the end of the world. For an Aries, it may be the opportunity of a lifetime! What kind of crises can you imagine for other astrological categories?  The Mercurial type? The Leonian? The Neptunian? The Plutonian?

Why Are They Coming to the Astrologer?

When you think about it, in an emergency does it make any sense to run to an astrologer?  Why not run to a doctor, lawyer, psychiatrist, financial planner, or the police? Many do just that, of course, but the person whose first thought is to call up an astrologer is a particular kind of person. Possibly not as well grounded as the kind who run to the financial planner or the lawyer, they think about life in a particular and doubtlessly peculiar way.  They think, in short, as we do.

Two kinds come at such times. First, there are the spiritually aware who want to understand the karmic and personal growth implications of what is going on.  Second, there are the dependent and unsophisticated souls who want to blame their problems on the stars and be told what to do.  Type One is more verbal and more rewarding, but all too often is merely Type Two in disguise.

At that moment, you are the archetypal figure—the Sybil who can tell the future and help placate the gods they have offended.  They hope you will help them control their destiny. ("Read your horoscope, cheat your fate.") With clients in such a frame of mind, it is especially important to avoid giving specific advice. In that vulnerable state where they may regard you as a god-conduit, they are likely to take it.  At a certain level, they are attempting to saddle you with the responsibility for their lives. If they follow your advice and the results are disastrous, you may take a part of the blame, at least in their eyes.

People in extremis are particularly vulnerable to the implication that the planets are causing this eruption—"It's in the stars" has an odd and seductive comfort to it.  "Ah, it wasn't ME, it was Saturn!" Thus, it is important to avoid talking that way and to get them to see concretely what led up to the event and what part they played in it. Otherwise, the sense of powerlessness that so often accompanies an emergency is compounded by the belief that the stars are in control of their destiny—and not especially friendly at the moment.