Elien Neimeijer

82 estimate what the person can handle at that time and in that situation and what support the person needs to undertake the activity. However, by undertaking positive activities together, which are in line with the capacity at that time, there is room for successful experiences in relation to self-image and appreciation and in relation to the sociothera- pists. Although the participants recognize the importance of a phased treatment that is offered in small steps, the small steps and the lack of a clearly outlined future perspective also frustrate them. At the same time, most people are unable to sketch a written and complete treatment process because they often cannot oversee this and are focused on all things that have “not yet started”. This leads to negative thoughts about themselves, the treatment and the treatment environment as a whole, which is also referred to as loss of perspective. 5. Dignity: treat me as a person and as a client “ Those very small and simple things can make you very happy. And then there are those very small simple things that do not fit, which can make you unhappy. It would help if the sociotherapists took more initiative to come to me. Then I feel that I do matter (...) He [a sociotherapist] treats you as a human being, explains things well and listens (...) It gives a bad feeling if they rather see you come than go (…) As the sociotherapists say: ‘It was nice to go with you outside of the clinic’, it makes me feel good” (James). All participants state that it is important to them that sociotherapists do not see them as a client or their work, but as a person. According to them, the person must be cen- tral in their care instead of the offense, the disorder and/or the disability (see also Bar- nao, Ward, & Casey, 2015; Griffith, Hutchinson, & Hastings, 2013). Participants want an equal, sincere and reciprocal human-to-human collaboration between therapist and client. At the same time, the participants want a professional with clinical expertise with sufficient knowledge and skills to unravel their problems and needs and intervenes ac- cordingly. The participants see initiating and maintaining the relationship between ther- apist and participant as part of the sociotherapists’ tasks and responsibilities. Therefore, sociotherapists must have sufficient knowledge and skills to initiate and maintain this contact, even if the participant does not collaborate.