I was listening to the radio last week about a teenager who'd suffered serious depression, and her aspiration when she grew up was to be a counsellor / psychiatrists so that she could help other people with similar problems. It's not an unusual aspiration and not the first time I've heard it, earlier in the year I heard a nutritionist explain how her early anorexia led her to her current career path.
My gut reaction is that people who choose a career for these sort of reasons are going to be carrying a load of emotional baggage that may interfere with their objective diagnosis and treatment of the people they want to help. Alternatively, I might just have a naturally negative disposition and in reality it may mean that they have a far more empathic relationship and a greater insight into a client's problem.
So what are other peoples view? Anyone in caring profession know if there is consensus of opinion?
