"You understand why you are both here?" the distinguished psychiatrist, sitting behind a large, wide desk spoke in a gentle tone to the two anxious young people seated before him.
Andrew Grant, the youngest son of the wealthy industrialist Hector Grant, fidgeted with his pen as he answered quietly, "Because my father doesn't trust my choices."
"Your father is concerned for you, Andrew," Dr. Carter answered tactfully. "He is concerned for both of you, to be fair. You are both so young and the challenge of a successful marriage is significant. That's why he's thought enough of the two of you to pay for this therapy, in the hopes of giving you the best start possible."
"Then why are we here, Dr. Carter?" Rebecca spoke tentatively. She didn't come from money, like Andrew, and she had a suspicious that this therapy was all about trying to get Andrew to give her up and find someone of a more appropriate social status, as his twin older brothers had done.
"Andrew is perhaps too young to remember this, Rebecca, but his father and mother went through a really rough time when he was only a young boy. They came close to divorce. As a last resort they came to see me. After years of work with my exclusive therapies, they are now happier than ever." Rebecca looked at Andrew and he nodded in confirmation.
"What type of therapy, Doctor?" Rebecca looked concerned.
"To be frank, Rebecca, I specialize in sex therapy." The doctor anticipated the wincing look from Andrew as he was confronted with the idea that his parents went to a sex therapist. "Marriage is, after all, primarily a sexual union. Across history and across cultures it has signified, first and foremost, the sexual bond between the partners."
"But we haven't had sex yet, doctor? Isn't it too soon for therapy? Don't you have to wait until problems develop?" Rebecca was reacting to Andrew's apparent discomfort by trying to wiggle them both out of the situation.
"Think of this like a vaccination against future problems, my dear. You don't wait until you have polio for treatment anymore, not when the vaccination can prevent so much pain. This is the same. We come into a marriage mostly unaware of our own sexual natures, and completely unaware of our partner's needs and desires. As we progress, we hide the things that we think might be objectionable to our partners, and the repressed desires become unexpressed resentments, and before you know it you're getting a divorce that neither of you wants, for reasons that you won't even speak about."
"So how does it work?" Andrew spoke up this time. It was apparent to Dr. Carter, but not to Rebecca, that he was starting to feel excited at the idea of sex therapy with his future wife. Rebecca was blushing slightly, so the doctor used his answer to put her at ease.
"We work with you both to find the similarities you have in your desires and fantasies, and strengthen those so that they can form the basis for a strong, long lasting bond. Many times, the irreconcilable differences we believe we have with our partners we have are really unspoken, shared desires. We let our discomfort about sex get in the way and we never realize how much we share."
Dr. Carter took out the couple's file and opened it on the desk in front of him. "I see you've both filled out the questionnaires?"
"Yes doctor, but why did we have to fill them out in different rooms?" It was the young woman again. She seemed to be more comfortable talking for both of them, and Andrew didn't seem to mind at all. The doctor made a note of this before answering.
"We wanted you to answer honestly, and some of those questions were rather personal, weren't they?" Again, both nodded silently. Dr. Carter smiled to himself...they had the perfect personalities for this pre-marital treatment.
The doctor pretended to study the reports. He actually knew exactly what he planned to do but he wanted to see how long they would sit quietly. It was a piece of information he couldn't get from a questionnaire and it was perhaps the most important for the course of treatment. Rebecca and Andrew waited almost five minutes as Dr. Carter paged through the reports, marking things with his pen, arching his eyebrow and making curious noises. He had seen compliance in his patients before, but this level of passivity was unprecedented.
He finally had to break the silence himself. "I'm encouraged. There is a lot here that indicates that, with the proper preparation, the two of you will have a long and successful marriage!" The couple smiled and Andrew reached out to take Rebecca's hand and squeeze it assuringly.
"However," Dr. Carter's tone changed, "your happiness is not guaranteed, and without your full cooperation during this therapy, I doubt that either of you will be very happy with this union. I've seen this in the past and marriages of this type tend to end unhappily for everyone. Your personalities are such that you would probably never discover the necessary path to happiness on your own." Rebecca frowned and Andrew shook his head in disbelief.
"Are you both committed to each other?" They both spoke at once, each one enthusiastically agreeing.
"I have nothing but your best interests at heart. I need you to trust me if this is going to work for both of you. You both need to want it, and be open to it. Can you do that?" He waited until they both agreed with sufficient vigor to convince each other. It was important to the success of the treatment that they each believe the other is willing to comply, and is relying on the other to do the same.
"Good." The doctor flipped a switch on his desk, turning on the light above the outside door to indicate that the private session had begun, and that no one should enter unless specifically summoned.
He smiled his most reassuring smile and asked the young couple to relax. He spoke quietly and steadily, telling them both how lucky they were to have such worthy partners, and how important it was for them to work diligently to maintain each other's happiness. At various times throughout the discussion he asked them to repeat a few simple phrases, and then resumed talking softly and slowly.
Andrew's eyes became glassy and his breathing deep. Rebecca tilted her head forward as though she had fallen asleep sitting up. Dr. Carter asked them both to stand, and wordlessly they both complied. The experienced psychiatrist was confident that both of the attractive young people were deep in a hypnotic state. "Neither of you will remember the specifics of what is about to happen. You will both remember that we had a good conversation, and you will look forward to your next session, feeling more comfortable as individuals and as a couple."
