WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

My client was a lady in her early 40s. She had two young teenage girls. She had been raising them since they were little girls and almost entirely without any support from the ex-husband. For some years, her mother provided her emotional support, then she died and there was no support at all from her father. He lived in a world of his own, perhaps he had a degree of autism, or he could have just been narcissistic. I never met him so I do not know.

Anyway, one days she came in and was very, very upset. Normally a pretty level-headed woman who was now taking night classes at the university as she was slowly preparing herself for a higher level job. Today she was, as she said, “a basketcase.” I listened empathetically to her and after 25 minutes she took a deep breath and accessed a more calm and reasonable state. “Thanks for listening...” she said. I nodded and asked, “Would it be good now to ask some questions and explore your state?” She nodded quietly.