This depends on what kind of teacher, lawyer, or therapist one is. If one is specifically going into criminal defense law, teaching at an inner city high school, or specializing in anger management therapy, then yes, this type of behavior will be routine and the professional should be trained in how to deal with these kinds of situations.

However, not all lawyers, teachers, therapists, and other "professionals" should not be expected to tolerate threatening behavior. It is not good for them OR their clients. Clients need to learn that intimidation and violence are NOT acceptable and there are consequences for their actions.

Moreover, there are so many types of therapy, law, and education. My therapist, for instance, specializes in working with women, LGBT clients and eating disorders. In her line of work, she does not treat (and does not accept clients) who have problems with violence. It's not her area of specialty. Similarly, both my father and sister are lawyers. My father does corporate/ employment law and my sister does immigration law. Neither of them have ever been physically threatened and, if they were, I can assure you that they would have the client escorted out by security and terminated. That simply isn't their branch of law. I work as a professor. I teach gender studies, cultural studies, and film at a very selective University. Personally, I have never been threatened or intimidated by a student. If I were, I would call security. It's not my job to deal with behavioral problems. It would diminish the education of all of my other students if I allowed that kind of behavior in my classroom; my students are all adults and are paying very high tuition in order to receive a quality education. Behavioral problems are not tolerated at my university. Period.

Finally, as someone who has written and published a book on stalkers and workplace violence (and was trained by the LAPD in how to handle these situations), I can tell you that allowing the behavior, accepting the excuses, and not taking the violence/intimidation seriously is the WORST thing you can do. It encourages the behavior, allows the situation to escalate, and prevents the supervisors/authorities from learning of and managing the situation safely. I cannot tell you, while doing research for my book, how many (usually female) professionals I interviewed who said "I thought it wasn't a big deal. I thought I could handle it. I didn't want others at work to think I was weak. It was my job to be in charge." They tried to "butch up" and tolerate the threatening behavior. Unfortunately, so many of these situations escalated--- it began with verbal threats, physical intimidation, and punching inanimate objects-- and then, all of a sudden-- it turned into physical violence. In fact, the ones i was able to interview were the lucky ones. The not as lucky ones are dead.

This doesn't just happen to "other people." It also happened to a co-worker of mine at the University. She had a male student who began stalking her. She said she could handle it. She said it wasn't a big deal; he just wanted to drive by her house or follow her into the office. He only ever yelled at her and hit the table. She said he was harmless; he would never actually hurt her. She said she wanted to handle it herself. After I saw this guy lurking around our offices, I spotted so many of the warning signs (which are in my book)-- and I chose to report him to our department and the police (against her wishes). When the police caught him, guess what? He was carrying a loaded gun and a suicide note that indicated he was planning to kill her and then himself. You can tell professionals to "butch up"-- but, by doing so, you may be signing their death certificates.

My co-worker is a brilliant professor and excellent at her job. Her job simply does not include tolerating abuse and threats by students. That is a job for the police, criminal defense attorneys, anger management therapists, and others who have been trained to do so. It's not the job of those trained in comparative literature, eating disorder therapy, or high school history.