Top 5 Fantasy Clients

I thought I'd have a bit of fun and think about which famous people I would be fascinated to work with. It was difficult to keep the list to 5. To make life easier, I decided that the fantasy would be slightly less fantastical if I restricted it to the living. I considered The Dalai Lama, Irvin Yalom, Will Self and many others before settling on these. Maybe I should send my leaflet?

Seriously though, to make it clear, it is my belief that the best people for me to work with, are those that a) want to do the work, and b) have made an informed choice in choosing their counsellor and that feel comfortable with the counsellor and their approach.

I have included the Myers-Briggs Type Indictor for each person, and if you click you'll find a description of their personality type based upon the Myers-Briggs system.

Sacha Baron Cohen (MBTI ENTP)

I think he would be very entertaining, and the acerbic wit and highly intelligent banter could be difficult to penetrate. But underneath I reckon there is a complex soul. I would relish the challenge of accessing his vulnerability, which he lets slip through in his comedic roles.

His humour is often outrageous - pushing the boundaries of acceptable taste. My nearest and dearest may attest, my humourous side can be somewhat edgy at times. If I couldn't have a professional therapeutic relationship, I would be tempted to have a bad-taste-a-thon with this gentleman.

Christian Bale (MBTI INTJ)

Well the press tells us that Christian has anger management issues, and I do enjoy working through anger with clients. I think that Christian can come across as aloof and I would be intrigued to see what impression I would get face to face, one-to-one. Christian is incredibly dedicated to his roles so I think that if he wanted therapy he would dedicate himself intensively to the work. He would probably push me to give him homework but at least he would turn up reliably to the sessions, possibly twice a week or more.

Christian also has a compassionate side, being a member of GreenPeace and the World Wildlife Fund and I'd like to see more of that.

Alain de Botton (MBTI INFJ)

I see Alain de Botton as a highly complex individual who is so academically clever and philosophical that this could potentially interfere with his being able to integrate his emotional side. I might have to get out the sandtray to get him "out of his head". There is creativity there, and I love his writing. It would easy to be drawn into philosophical discussion with this brainbox and the challenge here, would Alain be up for therapy, would be to bring the work back to him, his feelings, his life, rather than the greater concerns of mankind.

I follow Alain on Twitter and he tweets regularly; usually little snippets of shared observations about how we, as humans act. I often think of his tweets more as self-disclosure and suspect that they say more about his thoughts than the thoughts of mankind. They do usually get me thinking though. http://twitter.com/alaindebotton

HM The Queen (MBTI ISTJ)

It would be fascinating if this 86 year old decided that life was too short and she'd like to live the rest of her life for herself rather than for the public. I absolutely love working with people over 70 - generally I have found that this age group have the attitude that they have little left to lose, with a "now-or-never" attitude and can shift quickly, despite there often being entrenched behaviour spanning several decades. It is very rewarding and heartwarming work.

How refreshing for The Queen if she were able to shed the shackles of royal responsibility and to say what she REALLY thinks. Having seen her Olympic appearance with James Bond I think that Lizzy (for surely she would not want to be referred to as HRM during therapy?) has a bit of a cheeky streak and would enjoy the space to express her authentic self.

Paddy Considine (MBTI ESFJ)

What a fabulous actor, and having watched the breathtaking and heartbreaking Tyrannosaur, what  a director. I am fascinated by actors generally, and the desire/ability to escape into another's consciousness (if they're really doing it properly).

Why I would really like to counsel Paddy, if he were indeed to be in the area and fancy a course of counselling sessions, would be because he must have lived a colourful life, given his inside knowledge of dark characters and the ugly side of humanity. I was torn between Paddy and Shane Meadows, a director who's films Paddy almost always stars in. They are both in-the-know about the underclass of the UK and the realities that remain beyond the comprehension of most of the bourgeois. His acting and directing reflects his knowledge of the essence of the struggle of humanity and the demons that he attempts to exorcise through his work.

I would love to hear others' fantasy client list. Please share!

Amanda Williamson is a professional counsellor working in private practice in Exeter, Devon.

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