If you won the lottery would you stop working? This question might stimulate dreams of paying off lifelong credit card debts or student loans with just one click, instead of making monthly payments, taking a trip around the world instead of spending your day stuck in a cubicle. Waking to the sounds of the ocean’s waves instead of an alarm clock greeting you every morning. Breaking in your new sports car instead of sharing a crowded bus with fellow commuters.

“My therapeutic goal is to get rid of my anxiety.”

This type of client comment challenges therapists. Because how do you help meet these expectations when some symptoms, as comfortable as they might be, are simply part of being a human being?