Friday: Therapy Session IV

     Note: This short story was inspired by a particular petpet, can you figure out which one before you finish the tale?

          Tick.

          Tick.

          Tick.

          Some days it was as if time passed by within a blink of an eye. Unfortunately for The Psychologist, today was not one of those days. It was as if the cracks within Tyrannia were breaking faster than the much-needed break-through he wanted to make with this particular client.

          “Come on, haven’t you heard of the thrill of the chase?” The Client replied. “Like that feeling of dangling a piece of string in front of a Kadoatie only to take it away last minute? Oh how much that excites me!"

          The Psychologist released a sigh of exasperation and took a sip of his favourite beverage, Black Cherry Tea. The Psychologist sent a silent thank you to whomever created his longtime favourite drink. When he first started his practice, he’d promise himself to only drink Black Cherry Tea for it’s very calming effect on headaches. Now he has the Remarkable Restorative shop send cases of it to his office every month!

          This particular Client has been difficult to work with from the get-go. It has been well over two months since the beginning of their first therapy session, yet there has been no development in sight!

          “Research has revealed the thrill of the chase replicates that feeling of your brain releasing chemicals like dopamine, adrenaline, and epinephrine,” replied The Psychologist. “These also happen to be the natural hormones that leads us feeling happiness and euphoria.”

          “Absolutely doc! Who wouldn’t want that feeling?” The Client gleefully said.

          “However, these chemical feelings can sometimes be confused for authentic connections. Once the high is over, what happens next?”

          This comment had completely stumped The Client that just loves to run. Yes she enjoyed “the chase”, but was it her fault she’d been unlucky with finding an owner?

          Flicking through The Client’s files, The Psychologist eyes honed in on a bizarre detail. “It states your longest lasting attachment occurred with your owner when you were much older. After that ended, a cycle of attachment and nonattachment commenced. In fact, this cycle was repeated several times with your last owner. May I inquire why? Most petpets I come across love being attached to someone.”

          The Client sheepishly shrugged her shoulders in response. “I don’t know? Maybe I just haven’t found the right owner for me?”

          Clearly something wasn’t right adding up. Her intentions implied she wanted to find the right owner, but then why did she engage in such a vicious cycle of heartbreak? Was she that heartless? It was then the Psychologist decided to steer the conversation off course. “That’s a bit cruel don’t you think? I didn’t realize you were so heartless.”

          “Heartless? I’ve been playing this game for several years. Some owners are just so sensitive.” The Client smirked. “In fact, let me tell you about my most recent escapade...”

          As The Client gleefully shared details, The Psychologist keenly listened. To him, every significant event of a client’s life was like a jigsaw piece. In the beginning, all of them were in complete disarray, complex, and difficult to solve. However, with each therapy session, each jigsaw piece would somehow connect with each other, assembling itself with other pieces until it ultimately formed a complete puzzle.

          All of a sudden, his train of thought halted when he heard The Client say, “It’s a tough world out there… and I just cannot trust anyone these days.”

          The Psychologist calculated the risk of his next statement. “You really don’t want to get away. You want your owner to come find you.”

          The Client rolled her red eyes. “Well duh! Of course I want to be chased. Haven’t you been listening to what I’m saying? I don’t know why you’re the #1 rated Psychologist in all of Neopia.”

          Leaning back on his leather chair, the Psychologist remarked, “What’s strange is most petpets would run away from their owner and wait to be found. What you do is a bit more extreme... detachment implies your owner can rightfully replace you with another.”

          “What’s the point of having a good owner if you can’t test the waters out a bit?" she spat out in rebuttal.

          “Making your owners chase after you is how you convince yourself that they care… that they can be trusted. That’s the point.”

          And just like that, the first puzzle piece of this client formed and the first breakthrough was reached. As expected, The Client sputtered out in agitation, “I don’t give my trust out that easily. I must make sure whomever I end up with will be there for me. My method of testing out the waters is a tad unorthodox, but it works.”

     The Psychologist nodded his head in agreement. "Trust is the foundation of all relationships. I’ve been doing my research and renowned developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson explained it well in his theory of psychosocial development. This phase starts when we are young and we learn to trust our caregivers will meet our basic needs.”

          The Client said, “Just so you know, my first attachment was with my first owner, and we parted ways after one year. This theory doesn’t apply to me.”

          “You said yourself you weren’t attached until you were much older. Something must have happened prior to your first attachment that has resulted in your serious inability to trust anyone. Almost every species in existence requires some degree of care - food, shelter, and protection. If these needs are not consistently met, mistrust, doubt, and anxiety may develop and lead to lifelong complications.”

          The Psychologist continued on by saying, “Mary Ainsworth, another notable psychologist investigated the theory of attachment through a technique dubbed The Stranger Situation. The research explored the various nature of attachment styles, ranging from a secure attachment which is ideal for all relationships to insecure ambivalent attachment, which I believe is pertinent to you."

          The Client's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?!"

          "Absolutely not. I would never kid about your situation. In this scenario, you failed to adopt any feelings of security to your previous owners, and thereby wanted to prove their worth – like the thrill of the chase. In response to your behavior, your caregivers felt they can no longer trust you constantly leaving. In an indirect way, you instilled fear in your caregivers of not knowing if you were going to stay. Your inconsistency is the reason why you had insecure ambivalent attachments with all your owners.”

          "In fact, Your first relationship was probably your most defining one. You found someone who provided all your needs, but your method of testing out the waters was too much for her. That one day where you detached and waited for her to find you must’ve shook you to your very core.”

          Another jigsaw piece formed and assembled itself into place as The Client quietly murmured, “I waited for her to find me underneath the Money Tree. I waited for days… but she never returned. Hearts don’t just break-even.”

     The Psychologist nodded his head. “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair. If you continue to test your relationships, do you think you’d find that perfect one that will chase after you every single time?”

          “Maybe if I find the right one? But I don’t know where to begin."

          The Psychologist considered the options. Finding the right caregiver was no easy feat. They had just made the most significant breakthrough - the puzzle of this client was almost complete, but something was missing. What could that be?

     Releasing her own sigh of defeat, she expressed “Who would want me now?”

          Here, The Psychologist solved the puzzle. Earlier on, she emphasized the chase as just another game she played, but it wasn't a game at all. She needed to feel validated. What this client needed was something concrete to steer her away from her destructive path of self-hate.

     “Where can I find someone who can trust me and they in return?” The Client asked.

     That was a good question that required a lot of thought. After a few minutes, The Psychologist said, “The truth is that everyone is going to hurt you. You just have the find the one’s worth suffering for.”

     “Am I worthy of this kind of love?” the Jinjiah asked.

     And even before The Psychologist could think, his heart spoke for him. “You’re looking at him."

          Jinjah Trivia: A rather athletic Petpet, Jinjahs just love to run everywhere! The End.