How a Psychologist Lost His Best Clients and How to Avoid This Pitfall
I just received the most shocking news from Ted and Karen, a couple I have seen for the last three years. They’re leaving me. They said their relationship has got to a point where they don’t need to see me anymore.
I’m devastated. I thought Karen, Ted and I were forever.
This is a new professional low for me, and I can’t believe I let them slip through my fingers. They were dream clients: wealthy Baby Boomers who were more interested in hearing themselves talk, instead of actually taking the steps to improve their emotional well-being.
It’s exceedingly easy to hold onto clients like these if you follow one important rule: don’t heal them. As soon as you start applying your expertise to the situation, you’re on a slippery slope to the patient getting better, and if the patient gets better you’re out of a job.
Instead of healing them, you should simply provide the impression that you’re doing all you can to improve their mental health. Providing a concerned expression, sympathetic moaning, and pointless abstractions posing as something profound, example: “are you being the real you when you act like that?”, are all you really need to do with self-absorbed, affluent wankers.
