Sigmund Freud was the father of one type of human service that continues to be a valuable venue for the exploration of self and the healing of psychological wounds. What if Sigmund Freud were living today? Could he have embraced another form of human service that also guides the exploration of self? What if he were a life coach?
Imagine that a middle-aged man, whom we will call Donald, came to Dr. Freud’s office and engaged in eight sessions of life coaching with this wise counsellor?
I offer Donald’s summary account of what occurred during these eight sessions.
Session One
I entered the office of Sig Freud, a life coach. Unlike most life coaches, I find that Sig Freud prefers to operate in a very formal manner. He prefers to be called Dr. Freud and always dresses quite fashionably in a coat and tie. I notice that he even wears cuff links. Kind of a throwback to another era. I am also impressed immediately with the large bookcase in his office. It is filled not only with books, but also with many artifacts from ancient times. I will have to find a good excuse during one of our sessions to look at the books and to ask Dr. Freud about the clay pots, wooden statues, and pieces of very old jewelry on his shelves.
Dr. Freud greets me with a formal handshake and asks me to sit in one of the two large wingback chairs located at one side of his spacious office. I noticed a richly textured rug on which the chairs were located. Dr. Freud is obviously a man with exquisite (and probably expensive) taste. He also seems to be living a bit in the past. He offers me some carefully brewed coffee or tea. I decline this offer, probably because I am anxious to get on with the coaching session. I detected some lingering cigar smell. I noticed that there was an unfinished cigar placed on a dish located on Dr. Freud’s desk. He must have been smoking the cigar just before I entered his office.
I am a little uncomfortable with Dr. Freud’s heavy foreign accent; however, I am put at ease when I notice a diploma on his wall that was issued by a prestigious university in Vienna, Austria.
