Why Risk Training Needs to Feel Different
Most risk training focuses on the protocols, the frameworks, the assessment tools. And rightly so — these are needed, appropriate, and worth teaching. I'm not suggesting otherwise.
But what I think we often miss is the human element.
When we focus on the cold, hard facts without discussing how we might be feeling — and how that affects the client — we miss some really important parts of what we're trying to achieve. Risk work isn't about assessing and passing on. It's about assessing, managing, and doing everything we can to relieve or reduce that risk. The clinical side matters. But so does the person sitting across from you.
Anxiety in the Room — Both Sides of It.
When risk comes into the therapy room, there is anxiety on both sides. We don't always acknowledge that honestly enough.
From the client's perspective, they are sharing something with someone they feel safe enough to tell. That doesn't mean they feel comfortable. It doesn't mean they aren't anxious about what it means or where it will go. There may be a part of them that worries that the moment they say anything, an ambulance will arrive to take them somewhere. That fear — however unfounded — is real and shapes what they do and don't disclose.
From the therapist's perspective, we're anxious because we don't want harm to come to our client. We don't want them holding back. We may worry they're not telling us everything. And if we carry that anxiety visibly into the room — if we panic, if we become uncomfortable, if we rush — we make it harder for the client to open up, and harder for any future therapist to do the same.
Anxiety in the therapy room is contagious.
That's not a criticism — it's simply true. And it's one of the most important reasons why how we hold risk matters as much as what we do with it.
What Helps Us Manage Our Own Anxiety
Knowing our threat response and how to soothe it is a starting point. But in practice, the things that manage our anxiety in these moments are simpler than we might think.
The questions we ask. The way we explore — what does this mean to them? Are these intrusive thoughts or is there intent? Have there been previous attempts? Is what they're saying matching their body language, their presentation, what they've shared in sessions generally? Are they looking forward? Are there things they're still planning for?
These questions don't just gather information. They regulate the conversation. They signal to the client that we can hold this — that we're not panicking, not rushing to a conclusion, not about to do something without them.
Admitting to ourselves that we're anxious is not a sign of incompetence. Knowing what we can work with and what we can't is an asset, not a weakness. Exploring that in supervision, in our training, before it arrives in the room — that's what builds the kind of confidence that holds when it matters.
Frameworks Versus Felt Experience
If we work within a service, protocols and policies exist for good reason. They represent what an organisation has agreed is workable, and the boundaries they set are there to protect the client, us, and the service. If something feels like it doesn't fit, that's when we take it to a manager. If it's within parameters, we trust the framework.
But in private practice, we are the framework. How are we protecting our clients? How are we protecting ourselves emotionally, professionally, practically? Because when we know the answers to those questions — when we've thought them through in advance — we are more relaxed, more capable, and more present in the moments that matter.
Transparency With Clients
Part of working confidently with risk is being able to explain clearly and calmly what happens next. What does contacting a GP involve? What if emergency services are called? What would we say, and is there anything the client would want us to include? How can someone be around them during what may be a difficult time?
If a client has described intrusive thoughts, the worry that they'll be taken more seriously than they feel they are can be very hard to manage. Transparency helps. It might not lead to a comfortable outcome. It might not be what the client would choose. But being clear and honest about what we will do and why — while preserving as much of the relationship and their dignity as possible — is what makes the difference.
Our confidentiality policies will always state that if we believe someone is in danger, we will act. That's the duty of care. But at its heart, confidentiality is about confidence — confidence that we will try to protect this person, that we will do our best by them. When we've thought through these conversations in advance, when we know what we'd say and why, we carry that into the room. And it shows.
Why This Is Part of Why I Built the Course
This is part of why I developed Building Confidence in Private Practice: Preparing to Work with Risk. I wanted to create something that addressed not just the clinical what — but the human how.
I also wanted it to be online, at your own pace, for a very specific reason. That feeling of wanting to ask something but hesitating because you worry you're the only one who doesn't already know — that's real. It stops people from learning what they need to learn. A self-paced course offers something a room full of peers can't always offer: the space to think, to revisit, to ask without fear.
Risk doesn't always arrive with the clients we expect it to. But when it does, having thought about it in advance — having worked through how you'll manage yourself as well as the situation — makes all the difference.
That's what this course is for.
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