How to Understand People - Psychoanalytic Theory: Relating to Humans and Their Behaviour

by Lawrence Smith

In an initial interview the patient is seeking relief from some kind of suffering. He wants to find out what the matter is and what can be done about it. He is hoping to find that you are the person who can help him. In an initial interview you are trying to figure out whether you can help this person, whether you want him as a patient and, if the answer to the first two questions is positive, how you can get him to come back. You should always have in mind a bottom fee below which you cannot afford to work. If the patient cannot reasonably meet this fee or if you do not want to work with him, then you should make a careful referral (see 14, How to Make a Careful Referral). Although every- one reacts poorly to being rejected, you should make a real effort to help the patient allow you to make the referral, because it will generally be to his own great advantage as well as to yours.

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Published September 1, 2017