As many a stylist or bartender will tell you, clients will often see you as a confidant and reveal intimate details of their lives they wouldn't even share with their closest friends or partners. Our sympathetic ear has long been as sacred as the confessional and the best kind of therapy outside of a psychiatrist office.
You see we all need an outlet and we all need somebody to listen. Seeing a doctor can be expensive and is often only associated with a traumatic experience but talking to someone outside of your everyday circle can give you an excellent perspective on your life and the events within it. Those closest to you will undoubtedly hold a biased view and may only provide a limited understanding of what you need to work through.
But it does also work both ways. My clients have been as therapeutic for me as I could ever hope to be for them. Some of my clients I see more often than some of my friends and they want to catch up on anything they may have missed between the six-week appointments. This forces you to round up what you've done, the decisions you've made and how they've played out compared to how you thought they would.
These 'sessions' are something I've come to look forward to. Two hours of tea, chatter and giggles as we chew the fat about whatever might be on our minds at the time. It doesn't have to be serious or ominous but at that moment it is important. We are perhaps more free with how we reveal ourselves to those playing a supporting character in our lives.; they hover in the background but they will always be there when we need them.
And it's not just about talking either. My clients have helped me solve problems, remember important details and taught me how to view things from a completely new perspective. They have also helped give me an understanding of how I appear to other people and give me feedback on my feelings and how they might be affecting my judgment.
My clients are my entire world. Each one is my boss, my friend and the person who holds me accountable for my progression. It's important to feed your soul and everyone who calls on me gives me something different to take away each time. Achieving your full potential isn't often something you can do on your own. We are often conditioned to think that it's everyone for themselves but society works much better together. Of course I'm not suggesting you rush out and bombard the guy at the off-licence or your Uber driver with your innermost thoughts but talking it out with a trusted confidant is a start for a happier you.