(Almost) Getaway Day

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McCormick returns from the morning run with a glad heart. In two days they fly west.

Oh, sweet reprieve!

Then he watches the English bulldog from 3-J (Cromwell) pissing on the planter out front. That will smell good later.

A predictable blip, but he’s irritated. Why must we pack so early? Julie makes several lists as June drags everything she can reach from her closet.

“That many dresses?”

“In case I eat cake and pie and tarts all at once again.”

“Pardon?”

She spreads her arms, New Yorker born and bred. “What? I throw up at weddings. That’s my thing.”

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Motives (Shrinks He’s Known #3)

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(McCormick has discovered that Sal Bergen referred him to his ex-wife for marriage counseling…)

Because he hasn’t yet agreed to lie on the couch three times a week, McCormick can study his analyst’s face.

Setting aside Sal’s Parkinson’s, he sees guilt in the tremorous lip.

“You didn’t think I would find out. You thought the two of you could have a little rehearsal of your conflict through me and Gwen. Do you do this to other patients? You’re sick, Sal.”

McCormick watches Bergen blink and purse. So sweet, for once, to be angry as he fucking wants with no fear of smack down or freeze out.

And now leaving Gwen won’t be his fault.

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A Case of Countertransference? (Shrinks He’s Known #2)

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(He’s recalling therapeutic passages that led to the moment at hand...)

PTRorschach2-3-2015bElaine Southard was recommended to McCormick and Gwen (his partner of twenty years) by Sal Bergen, McCormick’s analyst.

Sal and McCormick’s signal exchange had been punctuated by Bergen gasping, dropping his shaved head into his hands, and saying “The self-deception is just breathtaking.”

That inextinguishable memory lit up when Southard, describing her own divorce, said “marriage can be an arena of sublime self-delusion.”

At his next session with Sal, whom he loved, McCormick said, “You sent me to your ex-wife for marriage counseling.”

Sal flinched, and the sadness in his  eyes was something they could not help each other process.

Shrinks He’s Known (1)

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psychologist

When McCormick, during guided meditation, hears “Direct gentle attention to any areas of discomfort,” he opens his eyes to sneak a peek.

Bruce Blend is a cool looking cat. Tweed jacket over jeans that aren’t skinny or, on the other hand, just a pair of denim slacks. Sharp-edged goatee that says, this face belongs to a dude whose shit is together.

Blend is the best looking shrink he’s seen, excepting Elaine Southard, whose jeans were tight. Whose brown boots gleamed.

Once McCormick told Dr. Southard that human love should include adoration. And she said, “Maybe you just want a puppy.”

 

 

 

The People Next Door

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Along with Decatastrophizing, Dr. Bruce Blend taught Attention Shifting (Catch then Devalue the ineffective…Shift  to healthy alternatives…Repeat as necessary…), Countering Probability Overestimation (Could my negative prediction be driven by the intense emotions I’m experiencing?). And, of course, Mindfulness (Present-Centered, Non-Judgmental Attention).

McCormick applied these techniques to the pretty millennial neighbors who let their Pit Bull (Cooper) trot to the elevator without a leash and blew bong hits into an air vent that whooshed skunky reek into his and Julie’s kitchen.

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This thought—Lindsey and Andrew are unbearable, self-regarding assholes who will get my kid mauled and stoned—definitely needed CBTing.

Why Are You Doing That?

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Posting only pictures of garbage did not attract a slew of Instagram followers.

Maybe that’s not all McCormick was after.

He told Julie, who claimed not to notice unless they were pointed out things like melting snowbanks that shed chicken bones and soiled underwear, that he wanted to see art when he looked at trash. So life would be more beautiful and she would hear fewer complaints about the city.

Just one of the ways he deployed Dr. Bruce Blend’s mindfulness therapy. Decatastrophize, Blend urged. Slicks of shit and cigarette butt are disgusting, yes, but not signs of the apocalypse.

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Hard Limits Fade Into Memory

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(Now that his morning funk has been rocked away by Steve Earle, McCormick is free to discover a new record from a favorite band…)

Because Julie called her high-school mate John Darnielle a genius, he resisted the Mountain Goats on principle.

Dylan was an ego-object back then. Making Bob share any space crowded McCormick when he really needed to feel large.

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His change of heart wasn’t gradual. The recognition struck while hearing:

I remember California, I remember Malibu
I remember the states and the names of the cities but I don’t remember you

It was the perfection of college lit review writing. Things you just thought, rhymed and adored. Who hadn’t searched for that treasure?

Defeating jealousy gives him room. With pleasure, he listens.