“Speak you also,
speak as the last,
have your say.”
--Paul Celan
Since break started less than a week ago, I have read 2 and a half books. I have about 10 more lined up in a stack on the floor of my office, and even more spreading over our coffee table.
All of this reading has caused me to think about things, which, for those of you who know me well, I do a lot.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday with an undergraduate I went to school with a couple years back. He was reluctant to engage in parts of the conversation out of fear that we would get in an argument. Eventually, once I showed myself difficult to provoke, he said that he thinks counseling is pointless, and that all therapists do is label what is “wrong” with their clients, tell them how they think they should live their lives, and argue with them if they show any signs of disagreement.
I did not argue with him about that – actually the kind of therapist I try to be is the exact opposite of what he described.
Of course, Carl Rogers probably says it best:
“I liked better to sit sometimes and listen to a toothless old woman or some drunk, talk about life as it was to them, because that was what I wanted to know, and most people wouldn’t tell me.”
