Family Therapy 01

Julia had an idea. "Dad's legs haven't fallen asleep yet."

She scurried over to her father and sat on his lap. As if Eric had copied David, he placed one hand on Julia's stomach and gently stroked her thigh with the other.

***

When it was already late, and Julia increasingly held her hand over her mouth to suppress a yawn, she sleepily slipped off Papa's lap. David stood up, let the girl hug him goodbye and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Julia was suddenly wide awake.

"Please come back soon, it's so nice when you're here."

He squeezed her shoulders. "I definitely will, you alone are worth a visit. I always enjoyed being with you."

It was time to leave. The couple accompanied David to the garden gate and thanked him for his visit.

He returned the thanks. "The reunion today was really great. Only now do I understand how I missed the evenings with you."

Eric grinned. "If you don't mind, let's get together for a beer sometime after work, you live just down the street."

"Good idea," David thought, "best you call me."

"It's a deal," Eric rejoiced.

Hanna put her hand on David's arm. "What else I wanted to ask, do a lot of people actually come to your therapy sessions with crazy ideas?"

David laughed. "What does crazy mean?... but I think I know what you mean." He addressed the spouses. "Don't we all lead similar lives in our dealings with each other? In relationships, in marriage, in bed?"

The two nodded meaningfully, and David explained.

"We all behave, at least at the beginning of our lives, as society dictates. And what if we discover within ourselves desires that don't fit the norm?"

Eric shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

David continued, "Most try to conform, suppressing their desires so as not to incur the displeasure of others."

"In a way, you're right," Hanna breathed.

David confirmed, "Yes, unfortunately, most people do, even when it's not necessary. But adapting never really works. Either such people make themselves sick, or relationships fall apart."

"And what can we do about it?" asked Hanna.

"Quite simple at heart... and yet so difficult. Respect each other, be honest and stand by what you'd like."

Eric kept drilling. "And why do people come to you, why don't they go to a regular therapist with a degree and stuff?"

David grinned. "Precisely because of what I just said. If a client expresses desires that are frowned upon in society, a therapist is more likely to work to get his patient to rejoin the flock."

Eric frowned. "You mean like the therapists who tried to turn gays into straights decades ago?"

"You hit the nail on the head," David replied, "that's why couples with problems like this contact me."

Hanna giggled, "I'm just dying to know what kind of problems people come to you with."

"Of course, I can only be general about that," David replied, "you know, confidentiality. I once had a couple who wanted someone to watch them make love."

Hanna's eyes snapped open. "Oh dear!"

Eric interjected, "What's the problem? Today there are quite a few couples with this lifestyle."

"True," David confirmed, "but when the couple has an adult child at home, things get a little more complicated."

"Oh, I see," Eric understood, "they can't send the offspring to Grandma's every time."

"That's not the problem," David objected, "Kids actually always know what's going on with their parents, and without their tacit consent, it becomes problematic."

"Was that a boy or a girl?" inquired Hanna.

"In this case, it was a girl about Julia's age."

"And how did you resolve the conflict?"

David smirked. "I had all three of them in my practice until I knew what they really wanted from each other. When I saw a way out, I accompanied them, even outside my practice, until they made it without my help."

"And the daughter?" asked Hanna, "has she accepted that her parents...?"

David smiled politely. "As I said, the confidentiality. The daughter was an adult, and the conflict was an opportunity for all three of them to figure out what lifestyle they wanted to choose for themselves."

Hanna worried, "Has she moved out, the daughter?"

"No," David replied, "she still lives at home. All three of them are fine."

Eric was amazed. "Your job seems really exciting."

"Yes, sometimes it is. But when I see families doing well afterward, I'm happy with what I'm doing."

Hanna had doubts. "There's really married couples who meet with another couple to...?"

"Very different things than that," David nodded, "there was a couple I had last year, and the wife wished... how shall I say..."

"Say it," Hanna urged.

"... that someone was watching her do it."

Eric was astonished. "You mean during sex?"

"Yeah," David laughed, "sure at sex."

"Such women really exist?" marveled Hanna.

"Yes. This case was relatively easy because her spouse loved to watch as well."

"How so?" wondered Hanna, "in a mirror or something?"

"No," David waved it off and took a breath. "Don't be alarmed now, Hanna, please. The woman wished that her husband would watch when she was with someone else."

"Wow," came out of Eric.

Hanna just swallowed blankly, but it was obvious from her face that she was more than interested in the subject. Finally, she inquired, "And where did they get the second man?"

David explained, "Of course, they didn't want to get some guy off the street. You have to approach something like that gently. That was my job then, to guide them step by step."

Hanna's eyes grew wide. "And did you...?"

"... help out?" David smiled. "Yes, until they were able to do it on their own."

Hanna's cheeks turned an utter red. "And people can really come to you with that kind of stuff?"

"Yes, that's how I understand my job to be." He looked at his wristwatch. "Oh là là, it's getting late. I think I should go now."

He hugged his buddy Eric, patted him on the shoulder and admonished him. "Well, I'll wait for your call."

Hanna, who had been rather brittle all evening, snuggled up to him, put her arms on his shoulders and whispered in his ear, "You would do something like that for us?"

"Why not?" pondered David, "you two talk sometime."

He waved to the couple one last time. Both stood open-mouthed on the garden path, until he disappeared into the darkness.

- To be continued --

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Thank you kenji for your assistance