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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