MORRIE'S LAST CAPER

While SHRINK AND JACKSON sales seem to be limited to friends and relatives, my need to continue the adventures of Morrie Scwartz, psychologist, remains unquelled.
I have begun a short story, again involving my fictitious alter ego. Morrie, now comfortably retired is no longer seeing patients. Nor will he agree to reurn in any way to private practice. In this story Morrie becomes the victim of identity theft in a highly personal way. When the police decline his request that they assist in a scheme to catch the culprit, Morrie and his old friend Irv embark on the adventure themselves.

At present I seem to have painted myself in a corner with my tale. However, being that this is probably Morrie's last literary fling, and perhaps mine as well, my solution to Morrie's dilemma had better be good. No doubt the paint will dry and Morrie will again prevail. Stay tuned.

Therapy models

I've promised psychological blogs so I should wrtite one occasionally.

I was asked recently to present some tapes or videos dealing with the practice of psychotherpy to my school psychology colleages. I have several old tapes by Wolpe, Beck, Lazarus, Rogers and others dealing with the application of their own particular theoretical model. They are not bad tapes and it is likely that many psychologists, like me, used them at one time or another as models for their own efforts. On this occasion I chose to use a popular HBO progrsm, In Treatment. It is beginning its third year. The first year episodes are now available as DVDs.

My wife and I have become hooked on this series. The therapist, played by Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, is superb. Paul, the therapist, is psychoanalytically oriented therapist, as his his mentor whom he sees regularly. While this might not sit well with many cognitively and behaviorally oriented therapists, the series is real, highly empotional, and extremely well written and acted. Paul looks for determinants of his patients' problems in their parents and usually finds credible determining factors. His female patients tend to fall in love with him. He sometimes has problems with limit setting and frequently questions his own competence and the value of psychotherspy in general. He falls in love with a patient while going through his own divorce. In a recent episode he verbally attacks his therapist and mentor, accusing her of being uncaring and hiding behind her technique.

My audience, none of whom had ever seen the series, were enthralled and wanted more. One might argue that what I was presenting was artifical--merely acting, while my professional tapes were real and empirically based. Artificial or not the In Treatment episodes are extremly relevant and provide many areas for discussion. I sometimes question one or two of Paul's interventions but mostly find myself feeling envious of him. I think he is a better therapist than me and I rarely think that or say it. Furhtermore, I never really believed that the professional tapes are completely honest. The editors have been selective in what is presented. Futhermore, I find them devoid of feeling, (except for Rogers). They rarely deal with the therapist-patient relationship and its impact upon outcomes. I don't know if In Treatment is written by real live therapists but whoever writes it is highly sophisticated. The situations are extreme and a little contrived. (Two patients meet outside his office and wind up having an affair; he is threatened with lawsuit by the father of one of his patients who may have committed suicide; a cancer victim refuses to go for chemo). Nevertheless, the series is powerful should be required viewing for clinicians and those aspiring to do therapy. Kudos to HBO.

More Tom and Jerry

Good news and bad news. Hurrah! The chipmonk has not returned to re-build the tunnel. It has been three days. I've laid new mulch. Nor have they been harmed--perhaps a little inconvenienced. I still see them every day. They have other tunnels. Alas, they have had babies. Now I feel like a grade A louse. That tunnel was probably the birthing chamber. The little rats can climb our bird feeders as well as their parents.

I'm told I should have titled this story Caddy Shack. Anyway, I've won...for now.

Tom and Jerry

The side porch of our new house overlooks a wooded area. Between the house and the woods is a large hill which I do not own. It is common property of the Development Association. The tips of two or three large rocks, actually boulders, jutted out of the ground. My wife suggested I plant something behind the rocks to improve the view from the porch. We feed and watch dozens of goldfinches, nuthatches, tufted titmice, cardinals, bluejays, cowbirds, woodpeckers, redwinged blackbirds, doves, chicadees,and others we have not identified. I bought some heather in late spring when they were in bloom. As I planted each at the base of the hill, behind the rocks, I uncovered each large stone. More and more of the boulders became visible.
I added more heather and some lavender. It took several weeks of hard digging and uprooting of some pernicioius weeds that made my hands and arms perpetually itch. (I don't like wearing garden gloves.) When it was finished the rough hill became a thing of beauty. The boulders encircled the hill. There were about twenty of them. Our neighbor across the street thanked me for improving the vista from her living room window. Encouraged, I began cutting back the brush from the woods behind to expose large tree trunks and Tarzan-like vines. The Association gardeners who had been mowing the hill now stayed away so I was reponsible for getting the mowing done. The man who does the mowing for us identified with the project and obliged by cutting back even more than I had asked. We gave various names to our hill-Bunker Hill, Stonehenge, Heather Hill, etc.

We were thrilled with out hill ("ours" only in a general sense) but so were a family the chipmonks who had lived in the woods. When you feed birdss you feed everyone else. The chipmonks loved to jump from rock to rock and they began a series of tunnels beneath my newly made mulch. One tunnel lay dangerously close to the roots of a heather plant. It had to go.

Early one morning I placed a large rock over the entrance to the tunnel. The next morning there was new entrance, even closer to my heather. Again, I placed a barrier-this time several rocks. Again, they dug around it, even cloer to my plant. I created a mound of rocks. My wife laughed at my efforts. "You are Tom and he is Jerry. Jerry always wins. Move your plant." I held fast. The mound went undistrubed for a day. I felt myself triumphant.

Jack is my seven year old grandchildchil (one of seven). He loves nature and cathes and releases frogs in our pond. Jack was intrigued by the chipmonk hole. Although I asked him to leave it alone, and without me knowing, he uncovered the tunnel. He was convinced I would have killed the chipmonk. I had explained it wasn't his real home. I had seen him carry seeds from our feeders back to an nest in the woods. "It's only an escape path for him from preditors." There are many hawks in our area and a black stray cat that stalks whatever birds or some animals it can find. He has many other enteances to that tunnel.
No matter, he was unconvinced. He placed two chocolate cookies for the tunnel diger. "Chipmonks don't eat cookies," I explained. "They eat the seeds we put out for the birds. That's why grandmom greases the poles with Vaseline." In two hours the cookies were gone.

This morning I took my pick and destroyed the tunnel. I replaced the rock mound just to be sure. So far no new tunnels. Jack hasn't been back yet. Perhaps Tom is yet to win. My wife is certain he will.

Update

The summer is upon us and I have been busy organizing my activities for the fall.
I have resigned from Interboro School District but not retired. Seeking more options for myself I have embarked upon a new approach--proving mental health consulting to school districts. I will continue with Interboro, I believe,in a consulting capacity for school-based mental health. I will be helping them apply for a renewal of last year's grant and hopefully continue to provide input into their mental health effort. I will have a similar relationship with Marple Newtown. I have already begun consulting with Elwyn, Inc., my old and long term employer, consulting with their education division for data analysis and program development. Since Elwyn will be providing mental health services to both Interboro and Marple Newtown, I will be in a unique position to interface both school programs. Perhaps a consortium of service providers may be possible. I have also re-started private practice in Chester Springs on a limited basis. I view this summer as a transitional re-grouping period. I continue to promote my two novels, Shrink and Finding Jackson on a limited basis. I have found Linkedin.com a useful networking website.