Cost and Continuity of Counseling  
Joe Ferguson, PhD | June 26, 2009

      Many people seem to think of personal counseling as though it were a marriage or a prison term, which tend to be lengthy, continuous and costly. This stereotype must be a hangover from the days of Freudian psychoanalysis which, in its classical form, was literally intended to be undertaken daily for years if not decades. In classical psychoanalysis, the distress that people sometimes feel in the normal course of living was assumed to be so obscure and exotic that only highly trained psychoanalysts were capable of interpreting it. The interminable daily sessions were necessary in order for civilians (tellingly referred to as “patients”) to finally grasp the exotic nature of what they were really thinking and feeling, which insight was considered to be the intended “cure”. Among the many unfortunate consequences of this approach are an unhealthy dependence upon the analyst and the prospect of a permanent new recurring expense.

     This misguided stereotype continues to haunt the field of psychotherapy and personal counseling, and it afflicts the occupants of both chairs in the consulting room. Many clients feel apprehensive or guilty about suspending or terminating a regular weekly counseling schedule and many counselors regard this either as a reflection of professional failure or as lost revenue. This is not my perspective. I would like my clients to utilize my professional services as they would those of a lawyer, an accountant, or a physical therapist; whose special expertise you call upon periodically as you need it to meet your personal objectives. My own professional expertise is in the facilitation of insight and action, which is useful not only for the relief of distress but for all manner of accomplishment.

     Like my counterparts in law, accounting, and physical therapy I can often deliver some value in a single consultation and our work on the projects we define together should be focused, limited, and conclusive. Now, like a personal trainer rather than a physical therapist, there is also a mode in which we can collaborate indefinitely in an ongoing series of projects that carry you ever further in the directions of your own evolving choice. This sort of project aims at exhilaration and fulfillment rather than at relief, recovery, and resolution. I’ll bet I can continue to stimulate and facilitate your personal development indefinitely if that is your desire.

     Personal counseling and psychotherapy are consultative services rather than continuous relationships and you should feel free to utilize my expertise in that way without fear of commitment or termination anxiety. Call me.