On Giving the Right Answer

I bought another book by the guy who wrote Listening to Prozac, Dr. Peter Kramer. I love the way he writes. He helps me see all that I have to learn.

He mentions that after his first book, people started encouraging him to write a book of advice. He knows people devour Seven Steps to Whatever, but he comes from a therapeutic tradition that abhors advice and opinion. He tries to "get out of people's way" as much as possible. As he mulls it over, he recalls an event in which a man asked for his expert opinion.

The man called him in the middle of the night to tell him his wife had died suddenly, and he needed his advice. When Dr. Kramer arrived at his house, amidst the bustle around him, the man pulled him aside and asked: "Should I bring our small children to the funeral?"

The man was desperate. He was overwhelmed with all that lay before him and just wanted to know what to do. Dr. Kramer thought about all the research either way, and then ended up responding: "Either way it will be wrong. What is wrong is to lose your mother when you are young."

The man looked relieved, and later thanked him for his response in a way that told Dr. Kramer he had struck a right chord.