ABSTRACT
Jim is a counsellor who visits his client, Pauline, at her home. Pauline's disability means she is not very mobile. Jim sees her in her lounge. The seating is such that at first he felt rather distant from Pauline, but has since moved to be physically closer. This was mutually agreed. Sometimes Pauline's partner, Diana, is in the home. Jim has explored his feelings of powerlessness in a previous supervision session. His supervisor, David, also picked up on how Jim was describing Pauline in a very factual way and was wondering what feelings were present. In the counselling session prior to the supervision session that follows, the client Pauline talks of her need to accept her situation. However, as the session proceeds she engages with strong feelings and a cathartic release occurs in which she talks of her experience of her whole body crying and being in mourning for the loss that it has experienced of mobility and pain-free existence.
