Expectations
It's really not cost, because therapist hourly charges can be as much as a lawyer's, and their hour is only 50 minutes. I don't expect my therapist to solve my problems; I expect my therapist to help me solve my problems. It's an important distinction, and one that most patients understand. I expect my clients to make the same distinction, but so many don't. No matter how much groundwork is laid, no matter how many times the client is reminded that it's their life and therefore their decision, no matter how much information and guidance is given, a surprisingly large number of clients want their lawyer to make the decisions for them. Most of these folks don't want information and advice so they can make their own decisions concerning their families. They want their family law attorney to tell them how many overnights their children should spend with each parent, what holidays the children should spend with them, what activities their children should do after school, how they should divide their money and what they should pay to whom. The reason?
Responsibility
Many clients don't seem to want it. If they have it, who will they blame when things don't go as planned, when what they thought was a good idea turns out not to be one? It still doesn't answer the question of why these same clients don't blame their therapists for the changes they help them to make. It also doesn't answer the even bigger question about why family law attorneys let this client attitude affect us so much that we need therapy, while therapists generally don't. Don't even get me started on the clients who ask for your professional advice and then refuse to follow it, and argue with you over its wisdom, and then when it all blows up in their face, blame the lawyer for their predicament. I think I should explore this with my therapist.....
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