The 8-Ball Answer

A couple of months into the pandemic, I gave up the tiny little room I had in the converted house that is the main Piedmont Triad office of CareNet Counseling, where I work. I did this largely at the urging of my wife, Terrie, who worried about my health sitting in a space barely six feet square.

The larger office I took belonged to my former supervisor, who at age 82 decided to make the pandemic-prudent move to telehealth. His space has built-ins galore, largely filled with his books. I have, however, taken one floor-to-ceiling section for my library and some key knick-knacks.

Like my Magic 8 Ball.

I often use it during my first session with a client as I explain how therapy works. “It’s an incremental process,” I say. “But if we want to forgo all that, there’s always the Magic 8 Ball.”

Would that therapy—or life—were as easy as the Magic 8 Ball offers.

I can envision conversations with clients.

Client: “Will I ever shake this depression?”

Me: “Well, let’s go to the trusty Magic 8 Ball and give it a good shake.”

8 Ball Says: “Without a doubt.”

Client: “Will my older brother ever respect me?”

Me: “Good question. What do you think Magic 8 Ball?”

8 Ball: “Outlook not so good.”

Client: “If I work hard and stay with this job, will it be worth it?”

Me: “Magic 8 Ball probably knows best.”

8 Ball: “Cannot predict now.”

The reality in counseling, of course, is that we don’t give advice or offer answers—definitive or even the Magic 8 Ball-style cryptic answer.

Rather, the work of counseling is helping clients identify tools and resources—internal and external—they can use to gain clarity on the life stressors causing them to ask those questions.

The reality is they find the answers themselves. As Magic 8 Ball would say, “You may rely on it.”