I have friends in the financial services industry. Some are at the top of their companies. Since my retirement I have tried to understand how the stock market works. When I open the newspaper to the markets, I can see the number of stocks that form the entire financial arena including the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000. It seemed that the more I learned, the more I realized that I wasn’t getting even close to understanding how the market works.
I was having lunch one day with a friend who founded and leads his own financial services company. When I expressed my frustration to him, he said, “Jim, let me go to the heart of the matter. This is what you need to know. Have you ever heard of the Magnificent Seven? There are seven stocks that shape what occurs in the overall market. They are Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. If they don’t do well, all the others will not do well. They are called The Magnificent Seven.”
Yesterday I was having an intense conversation with someone who was indicating why Trump won the recent election in a landslide along with the other two branches of government becoming Republican. This individual was not a psychologist but worked in another field. He was a writer and director in the world of film.
He indicated to me that the great directors can get into the shoes of the actors and assimilate their world view. The director’s job is to make that happen and have the actor express what is real, authentic. It is found in this statement from a director, “I brought the best out of that actor.” The director’s communication plays an essential role in the actor’s success so that the viewers of the movie believe the character that he or she is playing. The actor makes the viewer feel the emotions. This is why casting a movie is so important.
This caused me to reflect with my friend on what is necessary when counseling another. I referred to Richard Chessick, a professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University, who wrote How Psychotherapy Heals. In his book, Chessick states there are two things that a therapist needs to accomplish to have positive change occur. They are unconditional positive regard (no judgement) and empathy (the ability to really understand the psychological world in which the client lives). I think that Chessick would refer to these two things as the Magnificent Two. Nothing will happen if they are not present.
I shared that one of the ways that I was taught in training to enter another’s shoes was to do what an actor must do. Actors need to remember their lines. When I was undergoing hundreds of hours of supervision of my counseling, we had to create verbatims of the sessions with the clients. A verbatim requires you to write down every word of an exchange between the therapist and the client. That requires complete focus on the interaction to be evaluated.
It is a skill I still have and employ in a therapeutic conversation. In that role I remember every word like an actor. If it is a regular conversation with someone, I can’t do that. I still marvel at how actors can remember all their lines in flawless fashion.
The person with whom I was speaking indicated that there are more than two ingredients that are necessary for an actor or therapist to make the role touch the emotions of the viewer. The third is COMMUNICATION. It is the director’s job to make sure that the feelings of the actor are communicated to the viewer. He was right! So now I think not in terms of the Magnificent Two but the Magnificent Three, unconditional positive regard, empathy, and communication. The same thing that makes a great director is the same thing that makes a great therapist.
What does this have to do with the political realm of Trump’s landslide victory? Biden and the democrats had accomplished everything that you would want from an administration and particularly with the kitchen table issues addressed. All the deliberations of the Biden Administration should have made America FEEL GREAT from the present state of the economy moving forward benefitting the middle class. Not since Roosevelt have we seen such accomplishments.
This is an example of the THIRD INGREDIENT OF WHAT IS NECESSARY TO HEAL AND MOVE FORWARD WITH A STEADY HAND AT THE RUDDER. Biden had two of the three factors in healing a person or a nation. He practiced empathy and positive regard, but he and his administration failed to communicate his terrific effort to bolster success in the working class. Communication demands more than just words. You must pay attention to everything the nation or client are feeling and saying to you. If you don’t have communication of unconditional positive regard and empathy, the client will never grow. THAT ALSO APPLIES TO A NATION. The democrats had a great story to tell but thy misread the groups that made up the voters.
The same three issues that heal an individual’s psyche and soul are needed to heal our nation. Two of the three is not enough. We needed the MAGNIFICENT THREE, unconditional positive regard, empathy and communication.
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