Sometimes having “no plan” is the best plan

Okay, hear me out! There’s a big difference having absoluTely not plans at all…and holding your plans loosely. 

One disconnects. And the other creates space — makes room for mistakes, for exploration, for trying again, for doing things differently. The possibilities are endless.

Here’s why:

• It means we’re not coming in hard with our own agenda

• We make room for possibilites, for learning and growth to take place

• We hold space for whatever the child brings

• We meet them right where they are

Admittedly, as a young physio starting out, I often took pride in entering room with painstakingly thought-out therapy plans and elaborate obstacle course set-ups only be disappointed with the child showed zero to no interest. I was left disappointed and full of doubt, “Was that not enough?” Should I have prepared more?” But see, the point was not about having massive plans or pushing my own agenda. It wasn’t not about working into the room with a perfectly structued session and pushing it through, no matter what. Well, it shouldn’t be.

It’s about walking in open-handed, holding our plans loosely. With palms open to receive and respond to what the child brings with them. Meaningful change and learning happens when we’re ready to notice:

• How the child is showing up today

• What the family is carrying in with them

• What we collectively bring into the room moment by moment

Here’s another thought: we are often told, “the session begins the moment the child comes through the door”. But hey, what if we also considered what happens before the came through those doors? Maybe they had a long day holding it together at school. Maybe mom and child had a challenging lunch time at a busy foodcourt. What if we paused and sought to consider - as what one of my teachers often says, “the beginning before the beginning”.

Because when we create space for what CAN happen, instead of what should happen, plans shift! Not because it failed but because we’re on our way to make move,s to create change, to discover new ways of moving and being.

This is the challenge for us as therapists. To reframe how we do therapy. We’re not here to come in hard with our own agendas and grand plans. Or to show off a ‘grand display’ of our knowledge and skills.

We’re here to meet these precious little ones right where they are. And build them up from there. To bring them where they have not yet gone before. To show them what’s possible. Development is grounded in relationships and connection. When we take time to see the child as who they are, we get the privilege to peek into into their fascinating brains and understand their logic. This, right here, is where the real work happens.

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Head over to @tinyandmighty.pt where I share more honest thoughts of what goes on in my head as a therapist!