YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES
Stéphanie, 44, is a psychologist, with a very particular task: she is the one who must announce to patients if they are HIV positive. A potentially upsetting announcement, which can logically generate strong reactions among the people it faces on a daily basis. At Eve Roger's Micro Europe 1, on Tuesday, she explains the difficulties that exist when practicing such a job. Training is needed, but it's far from enough, says the psychologist.
"We are trained, yes, but rather on the job, thanks to our patients.In this area, the peculiarity is that our patients made us grow very quickly.Today, we train professionals to be very good technicians, but we forget to give them the equipment of emotional protection that goes with us, we do debriefings with our colleagues, we talk a lot with them.
The solution ? "Do not hide"
Our patients are most simply told that they have HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Ed.). It's the simplicity that allows you to relate to them, not to hide behind a white coat or medical jargon. From the moment they come to us and are told an STI or HIV, we know that we will change their lives. We must be ready to welcome their emotions, which range from crying to anger and amazement. We have the whole range of emotions that the human being can have in him.
We have not been there before, we will not be there after, but we are there at the time of the announcement, so we become the vector of the bad news. You have to be aware of it to face that. I think that what has most destabilized me is a person who did not react, she found herself flabbergasted by the news and had no reaction. Lack of reaction is just as disturbing as crying or anger. It was at that moment that I realized that to go towards the other, one had to understand what the human being as a whole was in order to be able to welcome him in good conditions and not to find himself destabilized. If we are destabilized at the time of the announcement, we are no longer good professionals.
" You have to take care of yourself: 'What do I feel about all this?' We must find a derivative for this overflow of emotions "Team cohesion is essential, it is a very good base. Then you have to take care of yourself: 'What do I feel about all this?' We must find a derivative for this overflow of emotions. I'm cooking. It allows me to counteract that negative emotion with something very positive that makes me happy. The idea is to return to your own life, with its hassle, its own accidents of life. Me, the gym or running, it's not my thing.
Today, I do not want to stop. But there is one essential word in our profession: congruence, which means that we are in agreement with ourselves. The day I do not feel comfortable with what I'm doing, I'll think about converting back, why not as a chef (laughs) . I believe deeply in the human being and that's what makes me stand today: see how the human can get up and how he can be resilient to events. As long as I am admiring of all that, I will be able to go to people and grow with them. "
Find other testimonials from Eve Roger's show:
Flavie, 21, is glossophobic: "One day, I had to present a show and I ran away"
Audrey, 41, has a child alone: "There was no question that I sit on maternity"
Idir, 31, is a victim of racist prejudices: "In general, I do not say anything but sometimes I lose patience"