So, it's not surprising that sometimes clients have differences with one another. And one of our jobs is to help clients from this pool of diversity to get along. And sometimes it's not easy.
When I'm dealing with differences between clients, clients who have gotten angry enough to threaten one another, I take it back to basics.
The first thing I do is deal with them one at a time in the privacy of my office. And my first question is "why did you come here?"
And the answer is almost always, "I came here to get sober." Or, "I came here to get clean."
Having established that they are in the program to get sober or clean we have a basis to resolve differences.
Once I've talked to both parties, I ask if they'd be willing to meet face-to-face. And usually, unless they were over-the-top angry, they agree to meet and talk through their disagreements. And when they talk face-to-face that's generally the end of the issue.
Rarely have we had to discharge clients because they were unable to get along. I think most of them are able to rise above their differences and recognize that their recovery is the priority, something that takes precedence over petty disagreements with fellow clients.
