Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 27 Intensive Consultation (Please continue reading)
It turns out that the allure of office gossip is second only to holidays and raises.

The gossip becomes even more appealing when the subject of the gossip is something that can bring benefits to employees.

but,

Compared to the enthusiastic Shen Bing and Huang Shaodong, Nan Zhuren was relatively uninterested.

After chatting briefly with his two assistants while wearing his signature social media emoji, Nan Zhuren quickly packed his luggage.

The three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment was quite spacious, and the interior decoration was also quite comfortable. Nan Zhuren had to admit that living in a company-provided apartment of this caliber did indeed make him more energetic at work.

Not to mention, for Nan Zhuren, there was another layer of motivation:
【月度目标：1个月内完成“心理咨询”10小时（3/10），完成后进行1次“心理能力培训”】

Now is the time to put in the effort to provide consulting services!
Nan Zhuren looked up energetically: "Little Soldier, have I had any consultations in the last few days?"

Unexpectedly, Shen Bing, who had been chatting and laughing with Huang Shaodong, paused abruptly after hearing these words.

His expression turned somewhat gloomy and uncertain.

Nan Zhuren subconsciously began to read the other person's expression and sensed that something was wrong.

Wait, this situation seems to be... pity?

Nan Zhuren was puzzled when she heard Shen Bing slowly say, "I was just about to talk to you, Teacher Nan."

"My supervisor just told me two hours ago that she has assigned a lot of visitors, so you need to hurry up and look at the information we collected earlier."

Many visitors?
Nan Zhuren raised an eyebrow: "'Quite a few visitors,' how many?"
-
the next day.

At 7:40, Nan Zhuren was woken up by his phone alarm. He opened his eyes and began to carefully review his schedule for the day, looking troubled.

7:50, I got up, washed up, and tidied my appearance.

At 8:01, I went out and bought a pork bun, a preserved vegetable and pork bun, and a cup of soy milk from the steamed bun shop at the entrance of the community. I ate them as I walked.

At 8:09, I arrived at Yannuo Consulting Center, bathed in the morning sunlight.

As soon as Lu Jia, the receptionist, saw Nan Zhuren, she felt as if she had been bathed in a warmer light than the sun: "Teacher Nan, you're here early today too!"

Nan Zhuren twitched the corners of his mouth. Facing Lu Jia, who had once helped him, he didn't fully switch into social mode, and at this moment, he couldn't help but reveal a bit of genuine emotion.

Nan Zhuren's expression reminded Lu Jia that a timely look of sympathy and heartache appeared on the little girl's smooth face.

"Teacher Nan is starting so early today..."

Nan Zhuren nodded, walked straight to his workstation, and began to review the information of today's visitors, constructing a consultation scenario based on the information at hand.

At 8:30, the first visitor arrived.

……

Nan Zhuren sized up the girl in front of him, who was about twenty years old.

The other person was thin and listless. Although there was light makeup on their face, it could not hide the fatigue that seemed to permeate the surrounding air.

"Teacher... I think I'm depressed."

Before the visitor had even fully sat down, he went straight to the point about his situation.

Nan Zhuren quickly recalled the information he had seen before and confirmed the other party's scores on the depression scale and suicide assessment scale.

He took a slight breath and said succinctly, "You seem to have a clear understanding of your current situation. Has anything happened recently that has made you feel uncomfortable?"

Nan Zhuren carefully changed her wording, using "uncomfortable" to avoid the word "depression" as much as possible.

“My boyfriend isn’t very good to me,” the client said hesitantly. “He’s always watching me and is very controlling…”

“He gets angry when he sees me talking to other men, even when I talk to his friends.”

"Sometimes he wouldn't even let me go out, he always thought I would have something going on with other men..."

Nan Zhuren frowned.

He gathered his thoughts, intending to delve deeper into the topic.

“But I feel like I deserve it.” The visitor clearly needed to vent and didn’t give Nan Zhuren any space to speak. “Because I really did have something going on with his friend before… so I feel like I’ve wronged him.”

Nan Zhuren continued to frown, suppressing his desire to delve deeper into the topic.

"I'm having a really hard time right now, I cry every day. But I can't leave him, and I know I deserve my current situation..."

Nan Zhuren: ...

... 9:25.

Shen Bing brought a cup of iced coffee to the exhausted Nan Zhuren.

Shen Bing was beaming with joy.

"Teacher Nan, the client has had a very good experience. They have already renewed their consultations three times, and it seems they intend to upgrade their package!"

This achievement drew attention from others; the progress was made with remarkable ease.

However, Nan Zhuren's face showed little joy.

"This consultation is very simple. After empathy, you just need to soothe the emotions, and then do some rational emotive behavior therapy, but..."

Empathy and reassurance are, in a sense, the simplest yet most exhausting processes.

Psychotherapists are often called "emotional dumping grounds" because they always need to expend their own emotional energy to replenish the energy of others.

In contrast, Nan Zhuren prefers to use more rational techniques in counseling rather than the self-destructive method of "empathy."

Although the consultation went smoothly, it was also tiring.

"Especially considering how many inquiries we received this morning."

Nan Zhuren sighed.

Shen Bing originally wanted to say a few words of encouragement, but when he looked at the wall clock, he suddenly fell silent.

"Professor Nan, the second visitor has arrived..."

……

9: 30.

Before me stood a man in his thirties, wearing thick glasses, who had been looking around the room ever since he entered.

"Hello, I am your counselor for today. You can call me Teacher Nan."

The visitor's gaze lingered on Nan Zhuren's face for a moment, then he frowned.

"Is this Professor Nan? Hello."

"Teacher Nan, please listen to me."

Oh.

Nan Zhuren politely raised the corners of her mouth and assumed a listening posture.

“I’m a programmer. A year ago, I found a 21-year-old girlfriend. She’s a kindergarten teacher with a very low salary, and I’ve been the one supporting her financially ever since.”

“At the beginning of this year, she wanted to open a milk tea shop, so I lent her 50,000 yuan. But later the milk tea shop lost too much money, and she couldn’t keep it going. At her age, she’s not very thoughtful, and I understand that. I didn’t ask her for the money back, but I also didn’t allow her to do business anymore.”

"She wanted to break up with me a while ago, so I told her that we couldn't break up until the 50,000 yuan was paid back. After that, things got very tense between us..."

Nan Zhuren pursed her lips: "Do you want your money back, or do you want to try to repair this relationship?"

The 30-year-old visitor thought for a moment, then said decisively, "I want them all!"

"Can you help me with this?"

……

10: 20.

Nan Zhuren's face was somewhat pale.

He waved his hand and called Shen Bing over: "This visitor's demands are difficult to meet, and he is not very proactive in changing his mindset... He probably won't come back."

Shen Bing nodded and said again, "I'll continue to follow up, just in case we can continue."

Nan Zhuren nodded noncommittally.

"Pack your things. You've done two consultations in a row; I need to catch my breath."

However, Shen Bing glanced at his watch again and looked sympathetic.

"Teacher Nan, the next visitor has arrived—she arrived early."

(End of this chapter)