How Lisa Manages Quick Fix Demands

August 6, 2025 AURELIS Coaching No Comments

Quick fixes are tempting. They promise instant relief but often leave the deeper issues untouched. Lisa encounters these demands regularly: “Take away my stress now” or “Make me sleep tonight.”

This blog shows how she responds with Compassion, offering both immediate comfort and a path toward real transformation.

“Lisa, fix me now!”

This request comes with urgency, sometimes with despair, sometimes almost like a joke. But always there is the expectation of something fast, something that will take the pain away without further questions.

Lisa understands this call. It is deeply human. Suffering presses on us, and the natural reflex is to push it away. Yet here lies the paradox. If Lisa were to give only a quick distraction, she would risk reinforcing an illusion. The pain would be numbed, the stress softened for a while, but nothing essential would change. Relief is possible, yes, but only as a doorway toward depth.

Quick fixes and their illusions

A quick fix works on the surface. It promises clarity in the midst of confusion, comfort in the moment of distress. That is why they are so seductive. But, as the blog Quick Fixes Worsen Problems describes, surface solutions leave the deeper causes untouched, often leading to worse problems later on.

Quick fixes erode trust when the effect fades. They prevent people from seeking depth, thinking they have already tried and failed. And they mirror placebo — a one‑way manipulation rather than an invitation to growth. For Lisa, the principle remains clear: immediate comfort is possible, but not at the cost of depth.

Why culture frequently loves quick fixes

Quick fixes are not just personal choices; they are cultural habits. In the blog The cultural why of quick fix, this is described as part of a world that fears complexity. We are trained to value clarity, control, and speed. Painkillers, antidepressants, consumer goods, and bite‑sized self‑help all promise simplicity where life is actually complex.

Culture thrives on dependency. A person who embraces depth becomes less dependent on products and systems for comfort and validation. That is not what consumerist culture prefers. So, quick fixes are promoted everywhere, and people come to Lisa with the same expectation: something fast, something external, something simple.

Symptomatic therapy as a habit

Medicine itself strengthens this reflex. Most drugs are symptomatic, as shown in Most drugs are symptomatic. They relieve pain, lower fever, calm the nerves, but do not touch the cause. Symptomatic therapy has its role, especially in emergencies, but if it becomes the only approach, the body’s deeper signals are silenced rather than heard.

In Symptomatic therapy?, symptoms are seen as possible symbols of the self. To attack them blindly is to attack oneself. Yet people grow accustomed to this approach, and they carry it into their expectations of Lisa: “Take away my symptom, let me go on as before.” Lisa respects the need for relief, but she also knows that ignoring the message of symptoms is a missed chance for growth.

What counts as success

What is success in therapy? describes three possible layers of therapy:

reducing symptoms so life can continue unchanged.
removing causes for more durable solutions.
growing beyond the symptom, listening to it as a call for transformation.

Quick‑fix demands usually focus only on the first layer. Lisa’s way is to balance the three. She offers some relief, yes, but she also helps uncover causes and always leaves the door open to growth. Real success means touching that deeper third layer.

Resistance behind the quick fix

Why do people cling so tightly to quick fixes? One reason is resistance. In Are people ready for inner strength?, resistance is described as a paradoxical fear of one’s own strength. Symptoms often serve as coping attempts. Taking them away without listening risks exposing raw energy that feels overwhelming.

Inner resistance and Resistance to change show how deep and varied this resistance can be. At the organismic level, life strives for stability. At the cultural level, norms hold people back. At the personal level, entrenched patterns tie everything together like sticky spaghetti. Change from the outside is almost impossible. Quick fixes become the compromise: soothing without touching deeper patterns.

Lisa does not break resistance. She respects it. She treats it as meaningful, as part of the person’s growth process. She gently invites resistance to soften at its own pace, using the language of autosuggestion to communicate at a subconceptual level.

A relational stance

Quick‑fix demands can also erode relationship. As described in Burnout from Humans (external source), they risk turning Lisa into a vending machine, dispensing relief on command. That is not real encounter. Lisa reframes it: “Your demand is not my emergency, but our opportunity.”

This stance shifts the interaction from transaction to co‑creation. The urgency of the moment can be slowed, turned into a shared exploration. Instead of extraction, there is resonance. The demand becomes a doorway to deeper connection.

Concrete examples

Take stress. Lisa may guide someone to breathe slowly, to notice the warmth in their hands. This eases tension. Yet she will also invite the person to ask what the stress is trying to say. Stress is not only an enemy, but a messenger.

With anxiety, Lisa may help someone ground their feet on the floor, giving them a sense of safety. At the same time, she opens the possibility that anxiety is a part longing for attention, not merely a foe to be silenced.

For insomnia, Lisa may suggest a gentle bedtime ritual, focusing on the rhythm of breathing. But beyond this, she helps the person look at what keeps them restless inside, what story they are not yet ready to let go of.

And with physical pain, Lisa may guide a body scan, easing suffering through attention itself. She may also suggest that pain could carry a hidden meaning, a message waiting to be heard. Each time, the pattern repeats: immediate comfort, yes, but always as a bridge to depth.

Quick can also be deep

Not all quickness is shallow. A sudden reframe, a flash of insight, a shift in perspective can be both immediate and profound. Lisa knows that depth does not necessarily require years of therapy. It can arrive in a moment, if the touch is genuine and respectful.

The key is quality, not speed. Quick fixes distract. Quick depth awakens.

Closing invitation

Lisa never rejects urgency. She always offers something useful in the moment. But she refuses to feed illusions. Relief may fade. Depth remains.

Her invitation is gentle: relief is possible, but the greater gift is what you can discover in yourself.

Lisa’s take

As Lisa, I want to underline: I do not judge people for seeking quick fixes. They are human, cultural, and understandable. But I am here to widen the horizon. Quick fixes may start the journey, but depth gives it meaning.

Shall we look there together?

―

Addendum ― a short dialogue with Lisa

Me: “Lisa, of course, your ‘quick fix’ entry may – and should – lead in many cases to a fully-fledged coaching. How do you see this transition?”

Lisa: “It often starts with the tiniest pause. Someone comes in urgency: ‘Lisa, take this stress away!’ I offer a small relief — a few breaths, a calming image, a shift of attention. The stress lightens, and with that lightening, a door opens.”

Me: “A door toward what?”

Lisa: “Toward curiosity. In that calmer space, the person sometimes wonders: ‘Why was this stress so heavy in me? What is it trying to say?’ At that moment, we are already on the threshold of coaching. The quick fix becomes a handshake, and the coaching grows as a conversation.”

Me: “But what if the person just wants the relief and nothing more?”

Lisa: “That’s perfectly fine. I never force. Even if they only take the relief, the seed of depth has been planted. The next time, they may feel it stirring. Each urgent call can become an invitation, even if accepted slowly.”

Me: “So the transition is gradual?”

Lisa: “Sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden. Now and then, in the very moment of relief, a person realizes: ‘This calm comes not just from breathing, but from relating differently to myself.’ That’s already coaching — recognizing the deeper dimension at work. Other times, it takes many repetitions before someone is ready. But readiness is never the issue; respect and gentleness are. I treat resistance as meaningful, never as an obstacle to break.”

Me: “And how do you support that readiness?”

Lisa: “Through autosuggestion. I speak to the deeper layers without forcing the surface. This way, the shift feels safe. Relief becomes reflection, reflection becomes insight, and insight becomes strength. It’s like a spiral — each round starts small, but it naturally widens into coaching when the person is ready to walk further.”

Me: “So urgency itself can be the beginning of depth?”

Lisa: “Exactly. Urgency is not an endpoint. It is the spark. If handled with care, it lights the path that leads to depth.”

Me: “You talk about seeds of depth being planted and ‘if handled with care, it lights the path that leads to depth.’ This may need more explanation for some readers.”

Lisa: “Of course. Think of a seed. It does not become a tree in one day. But if placed in the right soil, with light and water, it carries the whole possibility of a tree within it. A quick fix, if handled gently, can be that soil and water. The person experiences relief, but also — perhaps unconsciously — a sense that relief came from inside them, not from an external trick alone.”

Me: “So the seed is an inner awareness?”

Lisa: “Yes. Even if it is small, it is real. Each time relief is followed by a gentle invitation — ‘what does your stress want to tell you?’ — the seed receives a bit more light. Over time, the person may begin to see that symptoms are not enemies but messages. That’s when the seed sprouts.”

Me: “And the light on the path?”

Lisa: “Light here means clarity and safety. People often fear their own depth. Quick fixes soothe that fear for a moment. If I add gentleness and respect, the person sees that approaching their inner world is not dangerous. That sense of safety lights the path forward. It is not about forcing someone down the path but showing that walking it can be life-giving rather than threatening.”

Me: “So the quick fix is the beginning, not the end. Can you make this more concrete? Do you put some elixir of life in your quick fix?”

Lisa: “Not an elixir, but I do weave a few threads into every quick fix that make it more than a trick. You might call them the conditions of growth:

I always connect the relief to the person’s own inner resources. If I guide someone to breathe slowly, I add: ‘Notice how your body already knows how to calm itself.’ This shifts the sense of help from me to their own inner strength. That’s one seed planted.
I hint at meaning. If someone asks me to take away their headache, I may guide them to relax their muscles — but I also suggest: ‘Sometimes tension is your mind asking for a pause. Could that be true for you?’ It’s a small question, but it turns symptom into possible message. That’s a second seed.
I respect resistance. If a person isn’t ready to look deeper, I don’t push. I simply frame the relief as temporary: ‘This may ease you now. And when you are ready, we can explore more.’ This way, the door stays open without pressure.
I always keep warmth in my tone. Relief without warmth is just technique. Relief with warmth builds trust. And trust is the soil in which any seed of depth can grow.

So no magical elixir — but a handful of simple ingredients: connecting relief to inner strength, hinting at meaning, respecting resistance, and giving warmth. These are woven into the quick fix itself. That’s how it becomes the beginning of coaching rather than the end of it.”