Confessions of a therapist for the very rich

The headline at the top of the Gulfshore Life magazine caught my eye when I was in Naples, Fla. over the weekend: “Confessions of a Therapist for the Very Rich.”

In an article written by Tracy Jones, Naples psychiatrist Richard Capiola, went into great detail about the things that worry his very rich clients who live in southwest Florida:

• Many wives are shocked to learn how much of their husbands’ daily lives included drinking. Capiola treats clients who had no idea they were alcoholics until they were hospitalized for an unrelated health problem and they suddenly started having withdrawal symptoms.
• The rich are worried about how to divvy up their inheritance, particularly in situations in which the surviving spouse is not the first wife, and several children from the first marriage are in the picture.
• Not being able to apply solid business principles to their personal relationships.
• Their sense of identity after they retire. They used to hold power positions in their company. Now their life is getting a bagel in the morning and taking a nice walk on the beach.
• Others, who worked as former corporate bigwigs, suddenly revel in their “regular Joe” status. But their wives become depressed over the transition. “In Michigan and Ohio, she was married to an industrial titan; now she lives in Southwest Florida with some guy in Dockers who drives his golf cart around all day,” the article states.

And on and on. I was fascinated at the way Capiola was able to go into great detail about his clients, without identifying them.

The media Love—and I mean Love with a capital L—stories about the rich. So if you serve a rich clientele, and you feel comfortable doing it, pitch stories about how they use your products and services, without revealing their identities. Most of you will back away from this, and the bold Publicity Hounds will get the coverage.

A few years ago, the same magazine did a similar story just before Valentine’s Day in which two divorce attorneys who were married to each other talked about how the rich battle it out in divorce court.

As I stated in “Special Report #14: How to Piggyback Your Story Ideas onto Holidays and Anniversaries,” tying your story pitches to the holidays is always a terrific strategy for publicity. The media always cover the holidays. And if you happen to be there with a pitch, guess who gets covered?