opening space with despise

[Kathleen Osta]

What a great story, Joelle. Thank you for sharing it.

Have heard of variations on a theme of this dilemme, e.g., working for 
tobacco and defense industry companies. Appreciate this perspective,

Kathleen

On Oct 21, 2006, at 12:58 AM, Joelle Lyons Everett wrote:

> Filiz--
>
>  Your question is one I have considered for myself, and it is not an 
> easy one for me.
>
>  What came up when I thought about it was a story I heard once from 
> Carol Erickson, who was the daughter of the well-known psychologist 
> Milton Erickson, and a psychotherapist herself.
>
>  A man came to her once and asked to become a client.  She asked what 
> his goal was, and he said that he wanted to develop his business and 
> have a happier and more fulfilling life.  She asked what his business 
> was, and he said he was a drug dealer.  She told him that she would 
> have to think this over, and they made an appointment for the 
> following day.
>
>  After much thought, she came the following day and told him that she 
> could not support him in developing his drug business, but she would 
> be willing to help him work on a happier and more fulfilling life.  
> The man said that one thing that would make him happier would be a 
> better relationship with his son (he was divorced).  Working on this 
> goal, he developed a plan to become more involved with his son's 
> sports team (baseball or soccer, I can't remember).
>
>  After some time went by, the team needed another coach, and he was 
> asked if he would like to help.  He decided that if he were going to 
> be at his best on the days he was coaching, he would not use marijuana 
> those days.  As he got more involved with coaching and with his son, 
> he stopped both using and selling drugs, and applied his business 
> skills in some other, legitimate field.
>
>  I thought this was a great story of looking at the ethics of a client 
> situation and being clear about what she could do with integrity.  And 
> of course she made her decision using the same method that Erich 
> recommended!
>
>  Best of luck,
>
>  Joelle
>
>
>
>
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