Appointment #1- Tuesday 17 November 2018
Jodie, a 46 year old married mother of three, arrived for her first appointment with me fifteen minutes early wearing a charcoal grey business suit with an open collar, white blouse and black high heels. She was an attractive woman approximately 5 foot 6 inches tall with a slim build, her black hair pulled back in a bun, well tanned and hazel eyes. Although she wore little jewelry, it was evident both by her bearing and style that she was a woman of wealth and status. She appeared to be a bit nervous, and continually looked at her watch and around my office as she waited for me to begin our first session.
"Good afternoon Mrs. M_______, why don't we begin our session with a brief summary of why you are here today and we'll see what I can do for you."
"Good afternoon, Dr. Howard. Just call me Jodie. Anyway, I feel so confused...I'm not sure why I came. Things have been happening lately that have been turning my life upside down and I just don't know what to do. A friend of mine, Nancy J______, recommended you to me after I told her that I was having trouble sleeping and that my nerves were just frazzled."
"I see, Jodie. Maybe it would help if you were just to make yourself comfortable and tell me all about it. Just close your eyes and re-create all that has happened in as much detail as possible. Just forget that I'm here and make believe that I am the best friend that you have in the whole world. Someone who won't judge or be critical of you. Someone who will just listen. I'll just jot down some notes and later on I will ask you whatever questions or observations that I have. How does that sound?"
"OK. Doctor, whatever you say. Do I need to lay on a couch or something?"
"No, that's not necessary. Don't think of this as analysis. Just think of it as having an intimate conversation with a friend. Just say whatever comes into your mind. Let it all out and then we'll talk about it later. OK?"
"Then I better get comfortable." At this point she stood up and removed her suit jacket. I couldn't help but notice her ample breasts as she pulled her shoulders back to remove her arms from the sleeves. I hadn't noticed her figure at first since her conservative attire had disguised it well but now I could see that she was certainly well proportioned.
"It all began about three weeks ago. I got a phone call from Steve, the school bus driver of my two youngest children, Laurel and Scott. They are 9 and 11 years old and attend a private school. Steve has been driving my kids for years...he even drove my oldest son, Lee, when he was in elementary school. Anyway, all of the parents have Steve's cell phone number, and he has ours. It works great if anything gets lost or if someone is sick. All of us parents think the world of him so when he called I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me, though, was that he told me that he needed to talk with me in person about the children. By the tone of his voice I knew that it was serious and I immediately was worried that one of them had done something wrong. I should tell you right now, Doctor, that all three of my children are a handful. Hopefully they will outgrow it, but each of them has had their share of problems with discipline. Nothing serious now...just a lot of little things. I guess Jeff, my husband, and I are just a wee bit too lenient. Now that's not too bad is it Doctor?"
"No, Jodie, not at all. We all tend to spoil our kids too much. Go on, please."
"Well, I told Steve to come right over. I was a little worried about what this was all about. A half hour later Steve was at the door. He was wearing jeans and a denim jacket. He is about my size with long gray hair and glasses. He must be in his sixties. I had heard he used to be a school teacher and was driving buses as a part time job now that he was retired. He usually wore a big smile but he wasn't smiling as he entered into my living room."
"Jodie, I wanted to talk to you face to face because what I have to say isn't very pleasant. You know I have been driving your kids to and from school for over 8 years now, if you include Lee. Being with them two hours a day, 180 days a year gives me a quite an insight into them. Don't you think so?" I nodded fearing the worse, so he went on. "Jodie, I know all of my bus kids pretty well and I feel almost like a family member to them. I even get to know the parents so sometimes I have to say something if I see that things are going wrong. Is it okay if I just speak my mind?"
"Sure . Both Jeff and I think the world of you and I'm sure that we would find whatever you had to say about our kids to be valuable."
"Well this is more about the way you are parenting them. Let me be frank with you. Do you ever use corporal punishment with them? I mean do you ever just take them over your knee and spank them if they disobey you?"
