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Editorial

Jeffrey Kottler tells the story of how heÌýbecame burnt out as a therapist. He describesÌýhow his clients – mainly affluent professionalsÌý– began to sound like they were whining. TheyÌýhad everything anyone could want but stillÌýit was not enough.

Around this time he wentÌýon a trip to the Himalayas and visited a remoteÌýmountain village. Helping in the village school,Ìýhe began to hear rumours about girls whoÌý‘disappeared’. He discovered that, becauseÌýmany families could not afford to send allÌýtheir children to school, often the girls wouldÌýbe sold into sex slavery. He describes theÌýmoment of realising that, for 3,000 rupeesÌý($50), he could save a 12-year-old girl fromÌýthis fate. This was a life-changing momentÌýfor him and the beginning of a radicallyÌýdifferent direction in his career as a therapist.

Kottler is clear throughout his story that hisÌýjourney is as much about himself as his clientsÌýor the people he is trying to help. One of hisÌýthemes is that, as a therapist in private practiceÌýin the US, he felt replaceable, that many otherÌýtherapists could do what he was doing as wellÌýor better. He talks about the frustration of howÌýlong it takes for therapy to work, even to makeÌýsmall changes, and by contrast the way he has been able to completely and immediatelyÌýtransform the lives of these Nepalese girls.

There is nothing like immersing yourself inÌýa different culture to highlight what is wrongÌýwith your own. As Kottler says of the NepaleseÌýpeople, ‘It is both exhilarating and disturbingÌýto encounter people who have so little andÌýyet appear so content, especially for thoseÌýof us who have so much and always hungerÌýfor more.’ Although, of course, you don’tÌýneed to go to a remote mountain village inÌýNepal to find difference – just spending timeÌýwith people who live in your community butÌýwhose lives are very different from your ownÌýcan have a similar effect.

Sarah Browne
Editor

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