Client / Case / Patient?
Dr. Carl Rogers (Person centered Psychotherapy) started addressing people who came for help as person or client.
Psychiatric doctors generally address people as patients.
Psychologists and social workers tend to address as cases.
How do I address?
- If a person is with mild to moderate type of symptoms and is functional, and has come for self-growth, I address him/her as client.
- If a person has moderate level of symptoms then I address him-her as patient.
A term patient is from Latin and it means the one who has patience enough to tolerate the suffering. These persons try hard to be happy and successful. But they are stuck because of repeated failures.