I once had a job where I worked alongside professional counselors - Master's degree clinicians with other letters after their name. I was saying to one of the therapists that I felt bad for some of the clients we worked with who came from bad home situations. He explained to me that he believed every person's soul has a choice as to where it will be born. He said some souls choose bad people as parents. Ultimately, he said, our souls choose what kind of circumstances we will be born into. Therefore everything is the individual's own fault. I was appalled to hear this.

Every therapist has a view of life that is shaped by that person's religion, politics, family background, ethnicity, education, experience and general philosophy of life. Therapists are not uniform in what they believe or the values they hold. When I worked with a group of therapists, some of them heartily disliked each other. Some I admired, and some I thought held deplorable views - like the example I gave above.

You walk into a nicely appointed office, see a certificate of licensure on the wall and think: "I kind of know what to expect from this person." That's how I used to be. Not any more. I figure this person could have all kinds of baggage that I know nothing about.