Why do lonely or difficult clients still drain me?

You have gotten better at this. Most clients, you handle with ease now. But a few still leave you empty — the lonely one who wants more than the work, the difficult one who tests your patience. You call this their fault. Look closer. A lonely client is not asking for your service. They are asking for your company, and you keep giving it, past the point the job requires. A difficult client is not harder work — they are the same work, plus your reaction to them. Both drain you because you never decided, in advance, what you owe and what you don't. This is not a client problem. It is a limits problem. Your pod can see this pattern in you faster than you can see it in yourself — that is why you do this work together, not alone.