"It's time for your 4 o'clock Dr. Roberts" Fabian O' Patrick, Dr. Robert's secretary said, quietly poking his head through the door of your office.
"Yes send them in." Leon Roberts said adjusting his papers on the desk. His 2:30 appointment had left quite the mess in his office. Patrick nodded and opened the door. In walked a tall man whom Dr. Roberts had never seen before. Dr. Roberts was always taking on new clients. His office was fairly new and he had a high turnover rate of happy clientele. It had been a long road getting to where he had gotten to.
As an aspiring hypnotherapist, he had to face a lot of nay-sayers. Because he was young, many people thought he wasn't qualified to be a therapist, much less a hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy was an entire branch on its own that many deemed as pseudoscience. But Leon had put his nose to the grindstone, working hard and getting good grades in college. By 25 he had an undergraduate degree in Psychology, a Masters in Counseling Psychology, and a doctorate in Hypnotherapy. He was incredibly qualified and because of this, he knew what he was doing.
As the man walking in, Leon could tell that this man was one of the many who doubted whether he was qualified. Leon greeted the man and asked him to sit in the chair.
"No, I'm alright. I won't be here long. I've come to tell you that my wife was wrong and I won't be needing this _Hypno-sycosis _nonsense." the man said rather flatly, his arms crossed.
"Nonsense?" Dr. Roberts said with a smile, "I hardly think that a career I've devoted seven years of study and thousands of dollars in student debt is nonsense." He looked at the man, whose cheeks flushed, clearly growing embarrassed from his impoliteness. Dr. Roberts walked over to a small cart with glasses and bottles, pouring a drink in a small glass. "But, I guess I am a little biased. Can I offer you a drink, my good sir?"
"I'm sorry about calling it nonsense. I just don't...Well, none of it is actually real. Hypnosis is just a party trick."
"Oh really? I wasn't aware of that?" Dr. Roberts lifted the glass, the cool liquid sliding through his wet lips, down his throat. "Hypnosis has quite a history of being capable of alleviating pain and lowering mental stress." Dr. Roberts pointed the glass at the man, "Now, did you want a drink? I'm not a huge fan of asking twice?
"Isn't it illegal for a therapist to drink during a therapy session?" The man asks.
"Oh, so this is a therapy session?" Dr. Roberts said, sitting down in an armchair, "Well, then it's a good thing that this is iced tea."
"No, that's not what I..."
"It's of no consequence of me whether or not you want to partake in my services. However, you will still be required to pay for this session as you booked me for the full hour." Dr. Roberts took another sip, "So my time is yours."
"What do you mean I can't get a refund? I'm not using the time." the man said irately.
"Regardless of whether you believe in hypnosis, it is standard practice that if you want a refund on a therapy session, that you cancel twenty-four hours beforehand." Dr. Roberts finished the contents of the glass on the table and looked directly at the man. "Kindly sit down and tell me your problems, so I can help you. If you deny my help, you are throwing away your money and making no progress towards solving the problem that sent you through that door in the first place." The man stood there, gobsmacked at what Dr. Roberts had just said, but he eventually complied sitting down.
"Fine, I guess...I guess it couldn't hurt." He sat knees together, his body closed off.
"Good to hear. Now it's horrendous we have gone this long without you giving me your name."
"Oh, just call me Ollie, everyone does,"
"Alright Ollie, why did you come to my office today?" Dr. Roberts picked up a clipboard and began writing notes.