Eye on the Blogosphere: Ex corporate attorney switches careers to practice psychotherapy

By Taryn Hartman
Legal News

There’s always lots of talk around the legal Blogosphere about alternative careers for lawyers. Ms. JD (http://ms-jd.org/) has had a Q & A on its homepage with a JD/MPH/MA who now works as a hospital administrator, non-profit founder and adjunct professor (http://tinyurl.com/ydfn64p). We’ve written here in the past about lawyers-turned-rappers. For the last two years or so, that talk has been amplified as the legal industry has contracted and left many barristers jobless and facing an ideal opportunity to try something new.
So is it surprising that there’s now a former lawyer who now practices as a psychotherapist instead of a litigator, or just surprising that it’s taken so long? The overwhelming pop-culture stereotype of lawyers is that of overworked overachievers with frayed suits and fraying nerves mere seconds away from snapping. I’ll argue all day long that everyone could use a good shrink, but I’m sure most people would think lawyers are right up there on the list of those in the most dire straits.
And in a recent post to his blog, The People’s Therapist (http://thepeoplestherapist.com/), former corporate attorney Will Meyerhofer insists that the two fields really aren’t so different.
“Choosing a therapist is a bit like choosing a Supreme Court Justice,” he wrote April 3. “You collect all the information you can – and then you take your best guess. An African-American jurist ought to have a better understanding of the issues affecting African-Americans – right?  But then, sometimes you get Thurgood Marshall – and sometimes you get Clarence Thomas.”
There’s currently a video on The People’s Therapist that shows Meyerhofer announcing an online contest for his readers, challenging them to submit their questions to him via e-mail or video, with the winner getting his or her question answered on the site plus a free session of therapy (sign me up!). In the vid, Meyerhofer’s voice is so soothing that I’m ready to stretch out on his sofa and spill my guts right now. It’s also what I will hear from now on when reading his other entries.
Some of the content on Meyerhofer’s blog is aimed at lawyers, including a series he’s currently penning for my blog boyfriend Above the Law (http://abovethe
law.com/in-house-counseling/), but he also uses it to bring an interesting and intelligent perspective to current events like the debate over health care reform (http://tinyurl.com/yh5uott), the Oscars (http://tinyurl.com/yg5x
bly), even our obsession with the British royal family (http://tiny
url.com/y9cfok6). And to dissect the psychology of Sarah Palin (http://tinyurl.com/yhthowv).
It’s terrific, and most definitely worth a read: Meyerhofer makes some pretty interesting points about why lawyers often make lousy therapy patients. The Web site for Meyehofer’s private practice is http://aquietroom.com/, which always, ALWAYS, sounds good to me.
Take two and call me Monday morning.