Hello, This is Me. Deborah Bryson. MSW. RSW. 

My name is Deborah Ann Bryson, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW.  I am a social worker who came to the field of counselling in my 30’s.  I have had an eclectic career.  I have degrees in Sociology, and two degrees in Social Work.  I am a grandmother and semi-retired with what is intended to be a part time private counselling practice.  

I choose the word practice as part of my work because it allows me to be a lifelong learner and frees me from the word expert.  I am proud  of the trust that so many people have given to me.  I am honoured to call myself a social worker rather than a counsellor or therapist. 

I am not looking for new clients but I do want to share some of the wisdom that I have gained from clients and other wise people who came to teach me about mental health.

This blog is  my thank you to my profession.  

Why a Blog Called What Clients Teach Me

When I was a new to counselling a wise person gifted me with these words.

If your session with a client is 50 minutes long and you think you have done a good job and the client has learned from you.  I want you to spend the next 10 minutes thinking about what you have learned from the client.  What did they teach you today? If your answer is that you learned nothing from them then I can assure you that they also learned nothing from you.  

Those words have stayed with me for the last 35 years. I will always be a student.  

At the time I was not sure about this advice. Wasn’t I there to help people and give the clients the benefits of my understanding of the world, my education and my experience?   Well, in fact that is not my job.  My job is to witness, honour and sometimes challenge; but it is always believe in this other human in my presence.  

My clients came to teach me about the human condition.  My clients taught me about living with, mental illness, poverty, oppression, and finally about human dignity. Family members of people who live with mental health concerns taught me about loving someone who has a mental illness, 

I was not always a willing student nor was I always a good student.  Sometimes my own need to fix, solve or generally be the expert got in the way of their healing.  

I think about that sometimes now as I age that I have lost the energy or the desire to be seen as an expert in anything.  As a counsellor I need to witness, honour and respect the people who come to see me.   I think of this blog as a bit of my final exam in humanness and a thank you to my many teachers.