freelili, you hit the nail on it's head. People are indeed different.
It's these differences in people that make the world an interesting place.People do not choose professions. They are attracted to certain professions because of their own unique personalities. I couldn't be a businesswoman. I do not have the personality nor the inclination. My idea of the business world is thinking the FTSE is a football club.
I could not be a stock-broker. All that buying low and selling high would give me vertigo.
There are some people who learn how to behave in a profession from their mentors or someone they admire. Some people learn how to behave in a profession from one or both of their parents being in certain professions. This is who they aspire to emulate especially if this person is highly respected in his/her profession or made wealthly from that profession.
People need to be liked. They need to be admired. It's this need within us. We are born with it. The need to be liked and admired makes us very sociable creatures. I think this is why some people who find themselves in deep financial trouble react so strongly to debt collectors. Some feel and even believe the debt collector doesn't like them which is why the debt collector is talking to them as though they are invisible. They have not yet made the connection that it is not about them, but the debt. However, debt is a personal matter. So, there is a correlation between not being to pay debts and feeling like a bad(unliked)person.
The IP is a saviour of sorts. The IP hangs on the cross so to speak being the mediator between creditors and debtors. The negotiators between the debtors being saved (IVA)going to hell (BR) or pergatory (modification). If the IP is savey and shrewd s/he is a saviour and the debtor goes to heaven. If the IVA is rejected and requires modification the IP is viewed as poor negotiator.
Now, because the IP, freelili, has to stand on the frontlines of the IVA fires they are caught in the flames and need a fire-proof jacket.
The debtor will expect nothing less. They have to be objective in each case and view each case on it's merits. IPs are trained to look at the hard cold facts and details first. They are as a whole not warm and fuzzy people. They are not warm and fuzzy people, but fact finders and fact presenters.However, they are liked by debtors as a whole and can derive a sense of satisfaction in knowing they can handle the flames for the debtor and be seen as a life-saver in the end.
Here come the soft and fuzzy people. The psychologists, the psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, teachers. You know the 'helping' professions. They are trained to pick up on emotional distress. When the debt becomes too much and the debtor becomes suicidal, they do not know what to do, they turn to you, freelili not Melanie. Your role here is more important because you give the hope which encourages the life to continue. You can speak from experience. You give them pause for thoughts and feelings to be expressed. You make it possible for them to 'hold on' for another day and contact an IP. And when the IVA negotiations go array and they are thrown back into the firey pits of despair...they...contact...you. People like you, scaredkez, skippy 13, coco, gizmo and countless others here.
Now, you are on the cross carrying their emotional burdens easing the weight of financial concerns. You are not in the flames though, you're a lot closer to that debtor. You are an emotional empath and even over this medium they 'feel' your words and gain some insight into their problems. You like them and care about them. They can sense it in your words.
So, there you have it in a nutshell. Different strokes for different folks (smile). Why? Because as you stated correctly above, we are all different.
Alright, I shall crawl back into my mia-mia with my battered pink helmet and get prepared for the debt collectors to ring...again...again...and yet again.
All I have left is my humour.
