Jeffery Kottler

Kottler Reflection #2 On Being a Therapist by Jeffery Kottler is an excellent book. After finishing out the book, I have learned a lot about being a therapist. Kottler is very honest in his writing of the good and the bad of being a therapist. The last couple of chapters I did not enjoys as much as the first couple, but they were still good. I liked reading chapter 9. This chapter talks about thing that are not said. Kottler writes about our own internal commentary in a session. The commentary we are thinking is normal in some sessions. It made me think of when I was working at the hotel, how I had to listen to guest tell me things I really had no interest in. My internal thoughts would often take over, but I would manage to keep a smile

The passage he wrote “Lies we tell are not terrible self-deceptions, but strategies that allow us to work in a field that holds so many paradoxes and complexities” really made me think. As a therapist, we listen to different people with different stories daily. We have to disguise what we are thinking and tell clients what they want to hear, especially in the first session to keep them coming back. I believe this is where our paraphrasing of the client’s issue would fit. I may totally disagree with what is being said, but I must reassure myself and repeat what the client is telling. As a therapist, I must obtain skills such as compassion, patience, spirituality, and focused attention. Kottler writes about how when he wasn’t working, that his patience would fail outside of work. This is understandable to me because, you are constantly keeping your skills in check while working with clients that often once the day is over you are drained and for instance like he stated just can’t wait in line very long. For example, people in customer service have to keep a smile on their face and have positive attitudes, that when they get off of work they are total different