What you describe is for sure a psychological problem (speaking superficially, most likely some form of self-sabotage), but my and DB's point is these cases are a minuscule % compared to a number of people who believe they have psychological problems with discipline and like that when in reality they simply don't have a robust edge and their unconscious tries to warn them by fear and anxiety.
Therapy is helping someone to eliminate the problem ("go away from" approach) while coaching is help to achieve a goal ("towards to" approach).
If that's your P&L (in pips), then ridiculously good results. ~60 trades, 4 losses totalling -10 pips, 50+ winners totalling ~1000 pips
Ok Cornix. So what does that small % of traders do? Is that them who mostly can benefit from coaching?
I am emotional trader cause of way I grew up in a non traditional environment. When I was first groping along trying to figure out why commodities don't trade same as stock longer term and why day trading was so hard. Not all that many books in mid 80s, many willing to teach, didn't take long to figure out those who taught didn't trade or much. Then I went higher to those who were actually in the pits, bad mistake cause Pit trading not like screen trading, so I turned to market psychologists, even at some point took Van Tharp's home study book and few hour sessions with him, I came away from all of it this way- I simple either too dumb or too smart to believe in psycho babbling from people who don't trade, unless you in the trenches each day feeling the intensity of what we do on everyday job, you can't tell me how I should breath or think. I finally at some point learned how to program, kept two journals and tape recorder, someone else would transcribe whatever I would say on recordings. The emotional journals were more important as time went by as I was very good at being wrong at best/worst times of a trade. I eventually figured out this "Price bars are usually opposite of how we feel", when market is zooming one way hard and fast, NOW this tells me we be going other way pretty quick, take profits and reverse. BUT BUT BUT it got tested first, every possible problem I could dream up through the years, I have. So like problem with the Greeks came up, I knew from financial history from would unfold, markets would spike on open, wait several minutes and go other way, don't trade heavy, don't have to be a pig. Your question of when drawdown comes after so much gain, you do enough testing, you can see and figure out at some percentage of new equity highs, either lighten the load or add options to hedge. You know why Van Tharp gets 20k? Cause people will pay it, too many people gullible thinking that will cure their bad methods. Too many traders put on way too many trades and trade all day, Design method like you would automate it, you have to have an answer before a problem.
Yes I believe so. Not just in trading but in any business. The closest related example can be marketing (particularly direct sales/MLM). How many people dream of making big money there? How many actually do? Both categories tend to attend coaching sessions, seminars etc. Apparently there should be a fertile soil before coaching seed can grow into something.
Speaking of money charged by coaches and counselors, if Dr. Van Tharp works with Wall Street professionals he MUST charge a lot for personal sessions with them. Otherwise if they don't pay really much, unlikely they would treat advice received as something valuable. Maybe they do on a conscious level, but not on subconscious anyway.
Wall street professionals get company to pick up tabs, and when it comes down to psychology, having one or even a dozen sessions won't do much good if you don't believe in what they selling. I don't believe in psycho bobble but did find Tharps' book heavy enough to keep office door from closing is all I found it good for. A good trading book, has much fluff in it to fill pages but most good systems can be done on one page. That is America's stupid ways, "it got to be good if it costs a lot", no it don't, some of the best ways to get into the markets I learned reading on Internet, but where the profits are in money management. I believe we all know what our problems are and we all have the answers, but especially men have trouble to actually solving them as we tend to want to take easy way out. Too often the answers are in the hard way of accomplishing something.
Too true. Give something away and people won't even look at it. Repackage it into something with a little gloss and charge $5000 for it and they line up. Maybe Tharp is a fine coach. I doubt it as he couldn't cobble together a decent trading plan, so it's unlikely he'd be able to help somebody else do so. And he hardly qualifies as a mentor as he failed at trading. But, on the third hand, he might be a fine psychotherapist. But you can find good psychotherapists for a hell of a lot less than 20k. Unless you plan on being in therapy for several years and want to pay for the job rather than by the hour.