William James, the giant of American thinking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, had a wonderful phrase for the ‘vision’ or ‘philosophy’ by which we each work and live: “one’s best working attitude.” This is what Barbara gives on every occasion. She exemplifies the ‘best working attitude’ and that in and of itself creates a space in which one’s working attitude grows and becomes better. Barbara had met me only briefly before she started working with me long distance by phone because we were in different continents and at a most difficult period in my working life when I was swamped by a number of complex professional and personal challenges. I am still, many years later, astonished at the extraordinary intuition and understanding – the whole feel of me as a person – that she brought to bear at every session and by which she found ways for me to move beyond the ‘stuckness’ that holds us in such situations. To be able to do this in phone sessions only is quite incredible. The best way I can vouch for that is to say that she could read even the long silences for their meanings and opportunities to point ways forward.
