Actually, the health visitor activity is not an occupation, not a trade, but a profession the frameworks of which are ensured by law and professional protocols.

Furthermore, it is good, if the health visitor is appropriately trained, has a mature personality and she is skilful in her self-awareness. This time she is able to operate in the role of the mature helper, as the professional helping has dangers (e.g. burnout) and competence criteria (special abilities and skills).

The title above was described at the end of a supervision meeting as a reflective question: Who will protect me? – this gave the motivation to investigate the issue.

    “The mature and deep helper relationship is characterised by that the helper takes part in the solution of the conflicts and critical life situations in a satisfied and balanced way. In this role, the intent of the helper is to help the other person to develop and mature his/her personality and interest to be able to function better and to cope with the difficulties of life.

    The healthy and mature personality is an active master of his/her environment, his/her personality is coherent to a certain extent and he/she is able to observe the world and himself/herself. The helper showing the attitudes above is “able to stand on his/her own feet”. As the most important working tool of the helper is his/her own personality, he/she should know its ins and outs to create the security necessary for the extension of his/her self.

    In the centre of helping there is the recognition, the understanding and the acceptance of the feelings of the client and its integration into his/her personality. This relationship focuses mostly on the present and the future. Therefore, the focus of the helper relationship is not the specific problem of the client, but his/her self, own personality and the sum of his/her roles.” (Kovács, 2000)

Due to the recent tragic infant deaths, media sets the health visitor as the scapegoat, even though later it was proven that the health visitor was not responsible, as she performed her task with full responsibility and according to the protocol. Until the closure of the investigation, the health visitor remains innocent. By knowing all these, I would like to point out some aspects to help the helpers in difficult situations as well. I mention here the skills and competences always at hand, which do not let the professional self-esteem be questioned or tainted. These competences can be learnt and recalled even from the hidden repertoire of the helper.

The first competence or key skill is the differentiated notification of myself and others.

This is on the one hand a sensitivity towards inside regarding my spiritual nuances: what make me fear or angry? What makes me happy? When does my throat tighten? If soul listens, body talks: how can I focus on the internal sounds, read from the signs of the body? How am I affected by the expectation of the client, the employer, the professional superior or the society? Each helper has a blind spot, however incidental it is, where there is a need for the external feedback either from the client or a colleague.

The second competence is spontaneity and adequate expression. 

“Spontaneity is a skill for the appropriate answer” told by Moreno and as a dramatic, I prefer this definition.  Spontaneity is the internal energy urging one to give an adequate/realistic answer to a new situation or a new answer to an old situation. The spontaneous actor, the actor with free will mean that he/she is not bound by the bad memories and faults of the past, by settled customs and is not bound by the future desires and expectations. He/she reflects to himself/herself, his/her client and their relationship “here and now”.

The third competence is the role flexibility.

Health visitor shall be able to have a clear and unambiguous role in her own field, in the multiple modes of work. She has to be differently present in the school, in the region of families or in the colony. She has to address a pregnant 12-year-old girl and a 40 year old mother with more children differently. Reaction to the different situations requires high level of flexibility, however, the recognition of, the compliance with and the ensuring of compliance with limits of competence requires high level of attention.

The fourth competence is the emotional stability and resilience

During her everyday work, health visitors face many positive emotions even out of her consultancy room, e.g. visit to the family, however, in extraordinary situations, such as diseases, stillbirths, death of an infant or the mother, adoption at infant age, she is subject to strong emotional stress. She is affected as a woman, as an expert, as a mother and in many other roles.

Emotional stability and resilience is necessary not during the regular professional relationships, e.g. in consultancy, but when the client would really need crisis management and he/she does not seek an expert, but the health visitor, as she hopes a trustful helper in her.

“Good grief, I am so sorry.” In these cases, the “reunification of heart and the mind” would be necessary. (Goleman, 1997)

Apart from some exceptions, health visitors are overloaded and underestimated and they are motivated only by the profession, love and the mission. My supervision experience and the feedbacks underline that the competences above can be recalled and displayed also in the activity level to support the professional competence and the formation and the learning of the unified professional personality. By the appropriate supervision learning process(es) even the self-supervision ability can be learnt, which provides a continuous “protection” for the helper

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Goleman, D. (1997) Érzelmi intelligencia (Emotional intelligence). Háttér kiadó, Budapest

Klaus, A. (2014) Érzelmi intelligencia és csoportok – A csoport- és team szupervízió / coaching kompetencia-kritériumai (Emotional intelligence and groups – the competence criteria of group and team supervision / and coaching) MSZCT Konferencia előadás

http://acoaching.hu/erzelmi-intelligencia-es-csoportok-a-csoport-es-team-szupervizio-coaching-kompetencia-kriteriumai/

(Downloaded on 20th February 2017)

Kovács, Gy. (2009) Pszichodráma a szupervíziós gyakorlatomban (Psychodrama in my supervision practice).  Szupervízió & Coaching VII. évfolyam

Moreno, J. L. (1953) Who shall survive?, Beacon, NY: Beacon House

Kovács, Gy. (2000) A telefonos lelkisegély szolgálatok ügyelőinek képzése és szupervíziója pszichodráma alkalmazásával (Training and supervision of the operators of the emotional support hotline with the application of psychodrama) in. Zseni Anna Mária ed.: Lakjuk a házat Pszichodráma a gyakorlatban V., Animula Kiadó Budapest