We talked a lot about where this idea might have come from and some of the aspects of society that supported these ideas. This included considerations of some of the ways in which medical and scientific discourses have influenced the therapy world.
When Trevor returned for the next meeting, ten days later, he seemed eager to tell me something. He told me how much he had been thinking about our conversation about expertise and how important it had been to him to discuss this with me. He said it was ‘like a load off my shoulders’ that ‘I don’t have to do what you say, that we can work things out together’. He said that he felt more confident in himself.
The conversation had been very significant for me as well and I remember it clearly to this day. Trevor’s words brought home to me the tenderness with which people bring the stories of their lives to us as therapists. They brought home to me a far greater appreciation of the hazards of giving advice and also how therapists can so often be invited into this position. Our conversation made me realise what a burden it releases from my shoulders when I am working in collaboration with those who consult