Mark Henwick's Blog - Posts Tagged "therapist"
The Biting Cold
How would the therapy session go, if your patient was a handsome vampire?
Chapter 1
“And how does being a vampire make you feel, Mr. Scott?”
Not the most surreal patient interview I’d ever conducted. Not by a long shot. In fact, a surprisingly common enough delusion that there were established pathways for me to follow, even if the cliché opening made me cringe inside.
He settled his shoulders comfortably in the depths of the armchair and looked up at the ceiling. I don’t use a couch. I don’t wear tweed jackets, bow ties or turtlenecks and I don’t have a beard either. It just wouldn’t work with the blonde hair pulled back in the bun, the gray eyes behind the serious glasses, the subdued makeup, the effort to look subliminally professional.
As I watched, Mr. Scott’s dark eyes tracked lazily upward and to the right as he considered the question.
Visualizing, possibly accessing memories and emotions. Less likely to be lying.
Or he’s read the same NLP books I have, and he’s faking it. Some do, just to get the attention.
Without falling prey to stereotyping my patients from their appearances and overt behavior, I thought he didn’t look like the type who just wanted someone to pay attention.
I believed he wasn’t lying. And my instincts on whether someone was lying were unusually good. Which left me two alternatives: either he was a vampire, or he believed he was. The first option wasn’t possible. So… Great. The guy really thought he was a vampire.
Chapter 1
“And how does being a vampire make you feel, Mr. Scott?”
Not the most surreal patient interview I’d ever conducted. Not by a long shot. In fact, a surprisingly common enough delusion that there were established pathways for me to follow, even if the cliché opening made me cringe inside.
He settled his shoulders comfortably in the depths of the armchair and looked up at the ceiling. I don’t use a couch. I don’t wear tweed jackets, bow ties or turtlenecks and I don’t have a beard either. It just wouldn’t work with the blonde hair pulled back in the bun, the gray eyes behind the serious glasses, the subdued makeup, the effort to look subliminally professional.
As I watched, Mr. Scott’s dark eyes tracked lazily upward and to the right as he considered the question.
Visualizing, possibly accessing memories and emotions. Less likely to be lying.
Or he’s read the same NLP books I have, and he’s faking it. Some do, just to get the attention.
Without falling prey to stereotyping my patients from their appearances and overt behavior, I thought he didn’t look like the type who just wanted someone to pay attention.
I believed he wasn’t lying. And my instincts on whether someone was lying were unusually good. Which left me two alternatives: either he was a vampire, or he believed he was. The first option wasn’t possible. So… Great. The guy really thought he was a vampire.
