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Re: Winds of Change [message #1575 is a reply to message #1574] Fri, 27 July 2012 14:44 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
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Ubiquitous one

From: susanmartha Sent: 3/25/2007 9:55 PM

Tracy Island, Sunday, August 19th, 11:00 AM...

"Callie? I'm Anna Hanson." Anna held out her hand and Callie took it. "Please sit down."

Anna sat back down in one of the easy chairs. Callie sat on the small love seat across from it. "Dr. Hanson. Did Dr. Tracy talk to you about me?"

"First, I'm not a 'Dr.' I have a Master's in counseling. Actually I don't want a PhD. And yes, she has talked to me about your physical problems."

Callie still wasn't sure what to say to this lady. She'd never been through any type of counseling before. She said the first thing that popped into her head. "Why don't you want a Doctorate?"

"Because PhD's either get the major cases like multiple personality disorder, or get into theory. I like working with everyday people who have everyday problems. Granted, some of the problems are major, but they are the problems that are a normal part of life."

"Well, my problem might not qualify as 'normal'."

"Dr. Tracy told me about your encounter with the Hood. I've also talked to Kyrano, Tin-Tin and Brains about him. Why don't you tell me about your encounter?"

Callie retold the story of her encounter with the Hood. Anna listened intently and took some notes on a notepad sitting on the arm of the chair. When she finished, Anna stared down at her notes for a minute.

"You don't believe me," Callie said flatly.

"It doesn't matter if I believe you," Anna started to say.

Callie cut her short. "Yeah, I only matters that I believe it. I know."

Anna looked at her mildly. "Actually, that wasn't what I was going to say. What does matter is: how is this affecting your life? Can you still function? And how can I help you deal with it? Dr. Tracy told me you were having nightmares. Are the sleeping pills helping?"

"Yes, they seem to be."

"Tell me about the nightmares. What happens in them?"

Callie described her latest nightmare. "The Tracys and the other recruits are hunting for me. They want to punish me for betraying them. All the nightmares were like this but they've been getting worse. In the last one they all had glowing yellow eyes, and they shot me for betraying them."

"How do you feel when you wake up?"

"Scared, terrified, ashamed."

"Why ashamed?"

"I should have been stronger. I should have resisted him." Callie balled her hands into fists and hit her legs. "I wasn't physically hurt. I should be over this by now!"

Anna though for a minute, then asked, "Callie, if the Hood had kidnapped you, taken you somewhere, tortured you, and you told him just what you did, the code names of everyone, would you feel like you had breached security?"

Callie froze for a second, then a look of surprise slowly came to her face. "No. I didn't tell him anything he could use."

"Exactly. But if he had done that, you would have major emotional and physical problems to deal with. No one would be surprised at them. But, since there were no physical injuries, it's easy to pretend nothing happened."

"I get a lot of patients who are told they should put it behind them, and move on. But what a lot of people mean when they say that is you should pretend it never happened. And that is a recipe for disaster."

"In a lot of ways, what happened to you is closer to rape than assault. You lost control over your own body and mind. You were helpless even to think your own thoughts. Most of the problems you are having are normal for that kind of assault. And you should be able to deal with them with a little help."

Anna entered something on her computer. "I want to talk to Dr. Tracy about a possible prescription for anti-depressants. I don't think you will need them for too long, but they will help you through some of the rough patches."

"I hate the thought of being on pills."

"Makes you feel like you are weak?" When Callie nodded, Anna went on, "If you broke a leg you wouldn't feel that way about a cast and crutches, would you?"

Callie smiled. "Mr. Tracy felt that way when he was in a wheelchair."

"Typical former military. 'My body will do what I want it to do; I'm in charge here' attitude. But if he hadn't used them he would be crippled for life. Or he would have had to stay in bed until they healed. And then had to do a lot more work to get his legs back in shape."

"You know, depression is a physical disease. You can measure the difference in body chemistry. Anti-depressants just help you body to cope while you heal. If you choose not to take them, that's fine. You can still heal. It will just hurt more. Fortunately, that's not my problem."

"It's mine?" asked Callie.

"No, it's Dr. Tracy's. I'm not a doctor. I can't prescribe anything." Anna looked at her watch. "The hour's up. Do you want to meet again next week?"

"I think so," said Callie. "You've given me a lot to think about."

"One other thing," said Anna as she stood up. "Do you keep a diary?"

"No."

"You might want to write your feelings down each day. Handwritten is better, but a computer journal will do. You don't need to show it to me, but some people find it very helpful. Write about whatever you want. Just try to write at least once a day."

Callie nodded and left the room.


Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!
 
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