A Woman of Secrets

These days, I sit in my therapist chair, and I often marvel at the secrets I harbor on behalf of my patients.

First of all, there are these names that I gotta keep track of. Because most people are in treatment because they are unhappy in their relationships, I have lots of people to remember. Names of parents, siblings, lovers, children, and of course, dogs. I gotta remember that Jane used to be with Dave, but now with Mike, and Mike used to be with May. Or that Jack's brother, John, drives Jean batty, and Jean is unhappy with Jack because she is secretly attracted to Jack's boss, Jake. (A totally made up scenario, but you get my drift.) Of course, I can write this stuff down, but in case my records ever get subpeonad, I still want to keep Jean's secrets, therefore, my charting is very, VERY, vague, and I try to leave most names out. Surprisingly, while I sometimes have problems remembering names of people I actually meet, I hear so much about these partners that even though I usually don't get to meet them, I remember them.

Secondly, I went to the county jail to visit an inmate yesterday. I was asked by this person's attorney to do a psychiatric evaluation in Mandarin. I spent about two hours with him, asking him about where he grew up, what his parents did for a living, and of course, the events around his alleged crime. It was very weird, shocking, even, to learn that his family, as well as he himself, worship at a church I grew up at. There really is very little difference between us in some ways, yet he is behind bars...

Today, I had a chance to ask a Christian couple contemplating divorce (they specifically sought me out because I am a Christian psychiatrist) why they got married in the first place. I also asked them another hefty question: What is the purpose of marriage? Why do we have weddings? I was astounded that they said that purpose of marriage is to have babies. I told them that people can have babies out of wed lock all the time! They were truly stumped.

Do you know the purpose of marriage? For kicks, I have two very specific answers that I am looking for, and the 'winner' will get a copy of my favorite book, The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom. This contest will end next Friday!