Marathon Session

As a counselor, I have counseled clients of both genders, all ages, all colors, multiplied national backgrounds, and copious persuasions and mindsets.

Early in my therapeutic career, “Margery” (fictitious name) enlisted my help with an issue involving an allegation by her estranged husband that she was not only erratic, but was a threat to both him, and their young child.

Without divulging anything more specific than this, (since the previous characterization applies to literally thousands of counseling clients on a yearly basis in America) one aspect of our time together remains fresh; even given the passage of a decade or more.

And this circumstance had everything to do with the long-windedness of our initial session; (often referred to as an Intake).

For you see, to say Margery was verbose would have been the equivalent of saying the Grand Canyon is a drainage ditch, or the Caribbean experiences an occasional storm.

I began with a couple questions, or more precisely a bit of direction; (something I do with all my clients).

“Tell me, Margery. Why are you here? What can I do for you? Give me a few details which will serve to explain the situation in which you find yourself.”

Well, my reader, the middle-aged lady “took the ball and ran with it.”

Margery proceeded to talk for

… 5 hours!!!

(Without me so much as “getting a word in edgewise.”)

And strangely enough, each time I attempted to either break in with a follow-up question, (or bring the session to a conclusion) Margery found a way to “keep on keeping on.”

In the meantime, I felt myself aging. Wrinkles developed where wrinkles don’t belong, and my dark hair took on a decidedly gray tint.

(Well, perhaps this is a slight exaggeration).

However, my longest, most tedious and (perhaps) least productive session of all time taught me a valuable lesson.

… Never again.

I would become more directive in my questions, I would bring my clients back when and from whence they strayed, onto rabbit trails, and into briar patches, I would “cut in” when I needed to do so, and each session would be governed by an almost immutable time limit.

And although it was among the most exhausting and abjectly boring among the thousands of sessions I’ve conducted in two plus decades, I learned, (and learned well) from it.

I never forgot Margery, nor our marathon session. I came away from our time together not only hoping she was one of a kind on planet Earth, but that her particular one of a kind would never again elicit my services.

 

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 17. Copyright Pending.

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