Be kind,
for everyone you meet
is fighting a hard battle
-Plato

Everybody has a burden, so don't add to it by being difficult, by causing repercussions, or by sulking.

This issue is sometimes difficult for psychologists or counselors to understand. Some psychologists feel that they have all of the answers and that he is right. When a person with problems approaches him, he has already decided that the other person is wrong.

This unfortunate decision is in itself enough to make the rest of the discussion fail.

The client will feel that the psychologist is being judgmental. It will be hurtful and possibly insulting and it will be a good reason for the client to terminate the relationship or to assure that the sessions will fail.

As a psychologist it is proper for you to realize that everybody may have problems. Not everybody knows how to go about resolving those problems, but that does not mean that the client is less of a person. It doesn't mean that he is foolish or certainly not stupid. And it doesn't mean that you are a better person.

Anybody can get into trouble for any number of reasons. Many of them beyond their ability to control and just because they happened to be unfortunate in a certain issue does not mean that you should kvell because you are not in that position. All this may seem quite obvious to most people, yet there are many psychologists who fail for just this reason.

Other psychologists may feel after several years or even less of successful counseling that they are now very wise, perhaps wiser than their clients and their success could lead to a misguided approach towards these issues.