I don't believe that there is much difference between an accountant and a psychotherapist.

In both professions we invite our clients into our offices and encourage them to share with us events from their past. In both cases our clients discuss their triumphs and tragedies with a range of emotions from sadness to anger that results in laughter and tears. In both professions we hear stories that contain facts and fantasy, truths, half truths and occasionally complete fabrication.

In both professions we take copious notes and once the client leaves our office we distill our notes into report format and then file the report.

The main difference is that at the end of the process a psychotherapist prepares their report with technical language and diagnosis that is unique to their profession and then files their report in a filing cabinet.

An accountant on the other hand prepares his/her report using tax code and numeric calculations that is unique to our profession and then files the report with the taxing authorities.

All in all I envy psychotherapists, they earn a higher billing rate per hour when compared to us accountants and the psychotherapist's clients are a little less crazy that ours.

JHAP
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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."
...Hedley Lamarr (that's Hedley not Hedy)