An early paragraph for a psychotherapy clinic in Dubai:
“At our practice, we understand that many people struggle with the decision of whether to seek therapy, often wondering if what they are going through is significant enough to warrant professional support. This is a common and completely valid concern, one we hear from clients time and time again. We want every client to know there is no threshold of suffering that must be met before therapy becomes appropriate or worthwhile. Every person’s experience of pain is entirely unique to them; it is not our place, or anyone else’s, to measure one person’s struggle against another’s and decide whose is more valid, more serious or more deserving of care. Comparing experiences this way can be deeply unhelpful, at times even harmful; it leads people to minimize, dismiss or delay what they are genuinely feeling. Our team is committed to a safe, welcoming, non-judgmental space where every client feels heard, respected and understood, regardless of what brought them through our doors.”
Nobody sends that back in a client review. It says everything, in the order it is supposed to.
What ran instead:
“Clients often wonder if their problems are serious enough or whether therapy is for them. In response to this we say: pain is pain. Whether a papercut or childbirth, no two experiences can or should be compared. Judging and minimizing personal experiences of pain rarely help resolve it.”
Same clinic. A few hours apart.
In the first one, every sentence is the clinic talking about itself. We understand. We want every client to know. Our team is committed to. It’s built to reassure you. The people behind it are decent and know what they’re doing.
You believe it, because there’s no reason not to, and you move on.
The second one doesn’t ask you to believe anything. A papercut and childbirth sitting in one sentence isn’t ranking them. It’s pointing at something you already do. You decide your pain doesn’t count because someone else’s seemed worse.
One version tells you what to think of the clinic. The other hands you a fact and lets you get there yourself, and you trust it more because you got there yourself.
Funny, that last paragraph is exactly the thing the second sample just told you not to do.