Playing into the Resistant Client...A Story

I had the pleasure of working with a doctoral student on her paper she was submitting for publication. I was ready to please and impress this professional student that I too had a good understanding of a topic: writing and revision. Upon reading the first paragraph I understood the writer did not consider an audience for her paper. Well, maybe she did think of an audience, other professionals in her field, but still, as a reader, I was left at the end of the paragraph with no more understanding of her paper than when I started. I wanted to address her lack acknowledgment of an audience by not continuing on to the next paragraph and looking at her slightly puzzled (no need to generate frustration immediately). I told her I was going to summarize her first paragraph to see if what I read was what she wanted to convey to her readers. Well, my summary did not coincide with her beliefs about what she wrote and my little summary technique actually led her to believe that I was not competent enough to understand what she was writing about. She lost all faith in my ability to help her and so when I tried to offer other suggestions later on in the appointment, she would explain the topic or idea again in a way that I would hopefully understand, but never attempted to realize that she needed to write what she was saying to me. Granted, the topic was not overly complex or foreign but because I am not a student in that field of study, I was not qualified to generate ideas about what I thought she was talking about. Long story short, sometimes you enter a session with the best intentions and you want to assist others (especially when they are formally trained in a subject you are not) in a way that is subtle yet effective. I wanted to collaborate with the student on her paper but I instead let myself be played as the student who would be taught by the master. The next time this happens, I will stop the session and explain that while I have not been formally trained in the subject, I am a seasoned consultant and I do have some tricks up my sleeve to help writers of all abilities to improve their skills. The most important lesson from this story: do not let a client make you feel that you are not as helpful as you know you are!