Dana Shavin: A question I wondered after reading the piece was how you felt about the pattern of going into service as a strategy for healing yourself. I count three times: as a counselor, as a therapist, and as a life coach.

I think this is probably the standard (or at least common) entry point for these fields — why would anyone care so deeply about them if not because of personal experience.

In particular, how did you learn to separate your own reasons for joining the field from your own relationship with the clients?