Brooke’s second patient, Colin, is a court referral, referred for four sessions of mandated therapy. He was a tech executive who fell afoul of the law and went to prison for financial crimes. The woman with him, a parole officer I suspect, tells Brooke he must attend the sessions and that the basis for the referral is his anger issues. Brooke sees Colin face to face in her home office.
Charming at first, there’s a definite darkness underneath. He complains about the burden of being a privileged white man, knowingly provoking Brooke. Colin tells Brooke he has been therapy before, is glad to be there and glad to be out of prison. He says he “fucked up” his life. His accounting of himself is liberally laced with swearing, which he checks to see if she minds. He denies any history of violence, says he is a pacifist raised by hippies.
Colin looks around a lot and evades Brooke’s questions. He asks about her husband getting her to say she is not married. She says he is her first pro bono patient. He says he wants to talk about her, get to know her. Brooke tells him she grew up in the neighborhood they are in, that her father designed some of the houses in the area.
There is throughout an underlying tension. Colin seems used to being able to charm his way into getting what he wants. Brooke asks questions he does not want to answer. He tells her had a bad day in prison and reached his breaking point — she reminds him that in fact he was put into seclusion. He says he ruined his life.
At every turn, Colin resists giving details about himself and his history. He tried to provoke her but she resists. She confronts his downplaying and evasion. Colin is impressed and says, “You’re good. I hadn’t anticipated that.” But he is angry at her confrontations and is defensive. He claims he gets “pummeled” every time he opens up. “You want me to be safe”, he says, “but I am not safe.” This leads to mini-debate about words and a brief outburst by Colin. Clearly his charm is not working as he expected.
Brooke asks how it has been since he got out of prison. He tells her it’s okay but that people don’t want to be around him. Then he says “I fucked a lot of therapists. How about you? Have you fucked a patient?” and shits on his former therapists. Brooke wonders if he is up to the work of therapy. He apologizes and attributes his behavior to stress. Lots and lots of words but not much meaning.
Colin leaves. Brooke gets up and gets herself a drink.
Colin is a tough patient. I wonder why Brooke is willing to take him on under the four sessions mandate because it is very doubtful that anything meaningful can be accomplished in that time. No doubt there is a lot to mine in Colin’s history and it likely would take a fairly long time to get him to settle down and actually engage with Brooke in their shared work.
Colin masks his rage and hostility beneath a thin veneer of charm. He talks a lot but much of what he says seems aimed at getting a rise out of Brooke. She skillfully parries his attempts to goad her. My guess is that it is a bit of an exhausting hour — witness her need for a drink after he leaves. And what is that about? Why alcohol?
What do you think about Colin? About Brooke’s response to him? Does anything surprise you?
No comment yet, add your voice below!