Jacqueline Newman

I think to myself, if you would annoy me, you're going to annoy my clients.

You could be as smart as a whip, but at the end of the day, if you cannot communicate effectively with my clients in a way that they can relate, it's not going to matter how intelligent you are because they're not going to hear you.

And so when I do these interviews, after I decide, yes, we can go to lunch and you wouldn't annoy me, then I flip the paper over and look at your resume.

But to me, that's the most important thing.

So, yeah, I think EQ is something I think it's more important than IQ personally.

I agree with that as well.

So it's very challenging.

I will say that, you know, I joke with clients, I'm the most expensive therapist.

You know, and my parents are both psychotherapists.

So I did grow up in this world.

Yes, the big family joke is I was too aggressive to be a therapist.

I ended up in law school.

But yes, I think it is a really big challenge.

But, you know, to your point, they're coming to me for a service and I'm not their therapist.

And so it is very important that while I validate them, you know, and I acknowledge what they're going through, I don't always agree with them.

And I say there's a difference between validation and agreement.

So I can validate what you're feeling.

And I know how hurtful and how painful this is.

And I can also not agree that that's the best strategy to go.

And I can also not agree that because a spouse cheats, that means they're a bad parent.