Elien Neimeijer

84 so beautiful, so beautiful! It is now exposed in a museum. It would be really cool if someone buys it” (James). James refers to a moment in which he feels competent - “museum-worthy soapstone turtle” - and experiences incompetence - “mission impossible” - (dimension: competence). In addition, he talks about his self-esteem (dimension: dignity) and whether or not he is seen and heard by sociotherapists (dimension: recognition). This example illustrates that there are not five separate dimensions, but five dimensions that, as sliders on a mixing panel, must be continuously adjusted and in interaction by the sociotherapists for several clients at the same time. “ When I am tense, I like that staff is with me. But when I’m mad they got to leave me alone” (William). “ When I say that everything is going well, staff has to understand that it is not going well at all, they have to get through” (Rachel). “Back off means stay with me” (Charlie). As can be seen in the quotes above from William, Rachel and Charlie, all participants gave ambivalent views about group climate in general and the support from sociothera- pists in particular. For example, when Rachel indicates that she is doing well, this some- times means that she is actually doing well, while this is not the case at other times. However, she expects, like the other participants, that sociotherapists can interpret her behaviour correctly and anticipate as the participants are not able to express their needs in everyday situation and regularly send out verbal and non-verbal signals that conflict with their need for proximity from sociotherapists. “Back off means stay with me” In addition, signals from participants, as in the quote from William, sometimes appear to differ only subtly (“tension” versus “anger”), while sociotherapists are expected to be- have in opposite ways as they have to give him space when he is angry and comfort him when he is tensed (proximity vs. space). Finally, the signals and support needs vary greatly