awesome question!

with pdoc, i know he cares about me deeply, so he derives value from seeing me get better and change. he really values his place in my life as one of the people i'm closest and most vulnerable to - he doesn't take it lightly and continually expresses how honoured he is that it's him, of all unlikely people.

i think he had only been practising for a year before i became his client, so i'm one of the few people who's been able to see him grow into his profession and who he is today. sometimes he does bring up how he takes a different approach now (he's a lot more capable and confident) but i'm also able to give him feedback on what made our relationship work to begin with - all these things he did unwittingly which i hope he doesn't lose as he continues to get even better as a pdoc.

he also gets someone to talk about books with and tell his stupid jokes to (i do try to laugh unless they're reaaaally bad, in which case he gets feedback on which jokes not to try on other colleagues/clients). i think he gets excited about seeing me because he always prepares stories about his plastic gorilla and what it got up to during the week (apparently i'm the only person apart from his wife who knows about his stolen plastic gorillas. yes my pdoc is nuts).

and most importantly - he gets a stable income - as long as he has me, he'll never go hungry!!