Who would study psychology unless they had some issues?!-Chapter 179 - 177: The Town Youth

Time, 2:00 PM.

Knock knock knock——

"Come in."

After hearing the knock, Nan Zhubin called out loudly.

Click——

The door to the consultation room was opened, and in walked a tall, handsome young man.

From Nan Zhubin’s perspective, with a little tidying up, this young man absolutely fits the description of looking "clean" that girls often use.

"Hello." freewebnøvel_com

The young man was taken aback: "Hello, teacher."

He was momentarily dazzled by Nan Zhubin’s face.

Because this is the school’s psychological center, the part-time student at the front desk is naturally not as attentive as those in a commercial consulting center outside. So this young man wasn’t guided into the consultation room but was told where it was and then let himself in.

At this moment, he was suddenly stunned at the door.

"Please come in."

Nan Zhubin smiled as he took over the guiding role.

The young man was wearing black corduroy pants, a grey hoodie on top, and a baseball jacket worn open over it.

[Looking at the attire, it shows thoughtfulness, the style seems to lean towards social extroversion.]

Nan Zhubin first mentally constructed the [consultant’s impression] of the other party.

The young man sat somewhat restrained on the sofa to Nan Zhubin’s left. He didn’t take a leaning posture against the backrest but bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and unconsciously rubbed his palms, smiling towards Nan Zhubin.

"Hello, teacher." He made eye contact with Nan Zhubin and greeted again.

[His movements and posture seem a bit nervous, a bit defensive, but also show a kind of "poised to act."]

[Actively seeks to communicate.]

The terms "nervous" and "eager to communicate" aren’t really contradictory.

In the school’s psychological center, because the consultant is a "psychological teacher," most students may be somewhat reserved, with what could be termed a natural [defense].

But this also has an advantage — in such situations, as long as it doesn’t involve extremely private matters, students might actually speak more.

The initial consultation relationship can be easier to establish.

Once this first step is accomplished, Nan Zhubin was confident in using his techniques and experience to dismantle the students’ [defense], turning this state completely from an advantage to a disadvantage.

According to the narrow sense of social turn-taking, since the other person greeted again, he had to respond.

But this response couldn’t be another "hello," so Nan Zhubin straightforwardly used this as an opportunity to open the topic of the consultation.

"’Zhuang Junzhe’... is that right?"

"Oh, yes, yes."

It’s a run-of-the-mill name, not easy for [Positive Attention], so Nan Zhubin, after confirming, skipped it.

"Are you in the first year of your master’s?"

"Ah, yes, yes."

A simple way to use the visitor’s basic situation to cut into the consultation relationship.

Then move into the main topic.

"Since we’re sitting here, there must be some issue bothering you. Could you briefly tell me about it?"

This is Nan Zhubin’s usual opening remark, with words carefully chosen by him.

For example, using "issues that bother" instead of "things that upset you," or "how can I help you," weakens the visitor’s problems in terms of subjective perception and strips away some emotional color.

In the early stage of the consultation relationship, it can take great care of the more sensitive visitors.

This questioning method is actually an application of interview techniques, not that Nan Zhubin truly wants to "discuss the problems" with the visitor.

Yet this time, the first-year graduate student in front of him nodded earnestly: "Yes, teacher, I actually have an issue I want to discuss with you."

Nan Zhubin blinked, such a response was quite rare.

Still, he responded with encouragement: "Mm."

Gesturing for him to continue.

"This issue has actually been bothering me for a long time. I’ve always felt that I shouldn’t care about it, shouldn’t think about it. But recently, some... things have been triggered because of this issue, making me feel really troubled, and that’s why I’m bringing it up."

A long preamble, visitors often feel shame about their issues; in such cases, they create a kind of atmosphere that says, "I had no choice but to come for consultation," as a reason.

This is common among students in China and is more severe among groups with high self-demands.

"This issue... how to put it."

Nan Zhubin watched the visitor rub his palms twice.

"I’m from the countryside... no, that’s not quite accurate, it’s more like I come from a place that’s a blend of rural and urban areas. It’s not poor, probably at a moderately well-off level. It might have been a bit difficult in my childhood, but now there’s generally no worry about basic food and clothing, at least there’s fish and meat in every meal."

Nan Zhubin nodded, recognizing this as a description of basic family background; he could also anticipate that the subsequent issue would likely be related to family circumstances.

However, at this time, Nan Zhubin took another look at the visitor in front of him—as mentioned earlier, the young man’s appearance was quite exceptional, and this wasn’t just about his features; his skin texture was also good.

Overall, he looked like he came from a wealthy family.

But on closer inspection, you’d find that although there was thought put into matching the clothes he was wearing, there was nothing from brands above mid-range; they were all quite affordable.

"When I was little, my parents taught me not to compare with others but with myself. Because I couldn’t compare to others materially, there would always be someone better than me, so it’s better to compare in academics, in ability... I’ve always done that."

"In elementary and middle school, I was the best in school, and when I got to undergrad, even though the people around me were excellent, I still saw myself as one of the more capable among my peers."

"Of course, during college, I could also sense that the family backgrounds of people around me started to become exaggerated. But at the time, I still didn’t mind, because I believed I was more capable than them—in terms of grades, school work, internships, whatever, I was still stronger..."

Nan Zhubin nodded, already understanding roughly what specific issue the visitor was encountering.

"Of course, during this process, I couldn’t help but compare myself to others. Deep down, there were still some imbalances. For example, some people had jobs arranged in banks by their families by the third year; some had contacted overseas schools, spending thousands on IELTS exams to redo them several times; while I, in preparing for graduate exams, also had to send out resumes everywhere, finding a job as a backup..."

"However, maybe because my undergrad school was also in a second-tier city, the feeling wasn’t that strong at the time, though it occurred occasionally."

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