Back to the seeing people from my childhood. Sometimes that can be fun, and other times it can be interesting. Usually at some point in the conversation people ask "Where are you working these days". To which I respond, "Oh, I opened my own office about a year and a half ago and work as a mental health therapist." At that point one of two things happens, either they say "Oh" and take a large step back, looking at me like I have a third eye or grew a tail or something, or they say "Oh Boy I really need to come see you" and start delving into all the stresses they have in their life.
This can also be interesting when the person that is taking a large step back is a member of your family. I've got one of those in my family and on more than one occasion the response I have gotten to a question like "You seem upset what's going on?" is "Don't therapize me. (I don't know if therapize is a word, but that's what she says) You know I don't do emotions". At that point I usually tell her "I'm not, I'm just asking" and then let it drop. It can make a casual conversation more like a mental workout.
After a weekend at the Fall Festival and quality family time and thinking a lot about how people reacted to me. I thought I would let you all in on a little secret. When I'm not at the office, just like the rest of you, I'm not working.
So let me put all of your minds at ease. No, I am not diagnosing you, no, I am not analyzing everything you say, and no, I do not think you should be committed to a psych ward because of what you just said. Basically when I am out with friends or at a small town event (like this weekend) I want to be a normal person, talk about normal things like the whether or the news or my cats. When I ask about your day or your family or what you have been up to it's because I am interested as a friend or an acquaintance not because I am secretly working up a bio psycho social evaluation on you. Think of it like this, if you know someone that works as a server in a restaurant do you assume they want to bring you your dinner when they are at home. . .I sure hope not cause I'm guessing they don't.
That being said, it is also true that part of what makes me a good therapist are my naturally occurring temperament and personality. Yes I am a caring person, yes I find people interesting and love (at times and in the right setting) to hear their stories and where they have been and get to know them on a deeper level, I am also by nature a good listener. Those are things I CAN'T shut off just because I am not at work. I have also spent a stupid number of years in school and training to be a therapist and as a result of that training I have a knowledge base that happens to pertain to mental health and I can't just shut that off either. It would be like asking someone who works in insurance to pretend like they know nothing about the insurance process when someone mentions they were rear ended on the way to work the other morning. They probably can't do that.
Moral of the story when a therapist is out in the real world they do not treat the people around them like clients. They do however have personality traits and knowledge that they can't shut off. So let's makes a deal. If/when we meet anywhere other than my office, I won't treat you like a client if you promise not to take a step back and look at me like I have a third eye. Deal?
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