I have a client who praises me. That’s not a problem in an of itself, it is the level of praise that I wonder about. She says things like, ” I love your beautiful face, you are my shining star, I am so grateful to have you in my life, you are my special angel, I pray for you at least 6 times a day because I want your day to be the best, I sure do love you” and other things like that. I find that it derails me in our sessions. My husband thinks I should be happy that someone is willing to pay to shower me with praise and compliments, but it just feels frustrating to me. I want to help her see how her thoughts are creating the results in her life. I let the sentences she offers me derail me from that desire.

Here’s my model:

C Client said, “I love your beautiful face”
T This session is about her, not about me
F Flustered
A Get off track, forget what we were talking about, let her go off on a tangent, listen while she goes on about me, don’t honor my boundary that the session isn’t about me, change my focus from her to me, want to quit coaching her, think about what I did wrong
R I make the session all about me

When this happens, how can I find a way to let it work for me instead of against me? I don’t want the sessions to be all about me, but that’s what I’m creating. Any ideas of some thoughts that I can offer my brain to keep myself focused instead of flustered when this happens?