Clarity is needed about what exactly the client is paying for."Thank you for being so understanding," I sniffled as my therapist handed me a tissue. A second later I added,"I know it's your job," trying to walk back some of the deepI had expressed to Aaron. I wasn't sure the unconditional acceptance I had felt from him fully counted since he was my therapist.
It's not hard to understand this impression. One can easily wonder if their therapist is no more than a"hired gun," paid to dispense care and positive regard. "I have to find something in each of my patients that I love," said the fictional therapist Paul Weston in the first season of the HBO seriesYou can't buy a person's love or acceptance. Teachers, for example, are paid to be in the classroom, but their paycheck is not what makes them love their students. In the same way, therapists are paid not to care but in order to live.