I’d like to follow up with the idea expressed in my last post, that much of what we say, and how we act, is disguising an emotional need, or emotional request, that we desperately want fulfilled. And although we may go about getting our emotional needs met in a variety of ways, my opinion is that the emotional needs themselves vary little. We want to be heard, supported, held, loved, admired, respected. In my work with clients, I have been astounded by the similarity of their

Recently, a client shared a story about his daughter that I think perfectly illustrates how good therapists, managers, and parents can understand the communications of their clients, employees, and children. My client’s daughter (4) told her parents that she needed to use the potty before going to bed, so they took her to the bathroom and waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened. My client, the father, said he then attempted to “triage” the situation. He wanted to know: