9. Outpatient Psychotherapy
Following Xenia Green's discharge, she is scheduled once a week. The first week Stan worries he might get news she killed herself. And he thinks, Then would the new shit hit the old fan. But the days pass quiet. And he is changing the room he uses for outpatient sessions.
He chose a room, in Brenda's rhyming slang, of max relax to give his psychoanalysis patients a feeling, in accord with the Golden Mean, also called Golden Ratio or Golden Section.
Imagine a line. 
Choose a point that divides the line into segment-a and segment-b. Take the larger segment - a - and place it vertical, at right angle, at the beginning of the complete line. It gives the below rectangle with the horizontal the original complete line (a + b) and the vertical the larger segment (a):
Choose a point that divides the line into segment-a and segment-b. Take the larger segment - a - and place it vertical, at right angle, at the beginning of the complete line. It gives the below rectangle with the horizontal the original complete line (a + b) and the vertical the larger segment (a):
These are the elements of the Golden Mean. There is only 1 point on that line where the ratio a/b is same as the ratio of the horizontal line to the vertical line of the rectangle (a + b)/a.
As an equality, the Golden Mean is a/b = (a+b)/a and no matter the length of the original line, the Golden Mean ratio is 1.618033988751....., (the decimal never ends and may be rounded to 1.618)
In practical dimensions, the ratio 1.618 is almost satisfied in a 4.854-by-3 (feet or meters for a room) rectangle, and artists have found this ratio gives the aesthetic effect to make humans feel good. The Ancient Greeks laid out the Acropolis in Athens according to the Golden Mean. And great artists - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rembrandt - used the ratio.
Stan had the room designed so a person inside sees every surface in Golden Mean dimension. It is a southwest corner room of the hospital, the 15-foot-long wall a southern exposure of 2 windows; and the around-corner, shorter west giving the dimensions, golden mean.
Stan has Brenda put a set of thin curtains over the windows to transmit the natural light. He wants to prevent intimacy yet preserve privacy, to give a feeling of confidentiality but avoid fostering seduction. The floor is a plastic mild green to give an impression of grass like on a golf course, the walls have a cover design of forest greens and browns with light sky background, giving a feeling of depth and nature, and the ceiling is white and blue like a pleasant sky but without the visuals of clouds or blue sky. No desk uses up the room space or makes a person feel office. Two chairs with armrests and form-fit for one's back are light enough to be easily moved about.
Along the longer wall on left on entering is a sofa. On the shorter west wall is a rather large, if measured 4.854 feet long and 3 feet high painting by Joe that Brenda titles You'll See a Pink House. It is a scene in a big meadow of green grass. The perspective is so that the depth of the picture shows in distance a rising hill and atop it a charmingly painted pink house. And in the middle of the meadow a boy and girl dressed for an outing in the countryside, holding hands, happily run towards it. The painting gives a carefree feeling of nature, youth and health.
10. A Session
A woman secretary opens the door. "Please choose a chair, Miss Green. Dr Pelc will be in shortly".
From his analysis, Stan's idea is that, in Xenia Green's case, a superior-position white man took advantage of his master status, used her body without care for her sensibilities and then discarded her. Feelings of racial & class inferiority, and sexual powerlessness amplify the effect, attacking her feelings of worth, damaging her self esteem and causing anhedonia - an inability to enjoy the normal pleasures. That, with the feelings of worthlessness and a social situation badly worsened by her losing her job, makes suicide an escape option. The key link is her inability to forget the emotional memory. She has become obsessed with it and it gives her a feeling of being the world's worst loser.
Stan's neuroanatomy knowledge allows him to conclude that this powerful negative emotional memory has got fixed deep in the part of her left brain's memory storage. Left side because she is right handed and, like speech, the dominant side of the brain for memories is the opposite side from handedness. And this is not like the usual memory that is normally not brought to mind unless needed. It has an emotional tag that forces it on her. Stan knows that the pathway in the brain between the memory center and the urge to suicide is a band of nerve fibers going from the rear of brain, forward and upward and around to the frontal lobe. And he knows that in the worst cases, where such a memory cannot be buried by time and psychotherapy, a neurosurgery like Leo Davidoff experimented with on Joe Pro could be done. But he does not want to propose that until he has given his psychoanalysis a try. With the Morphine syrup to reduce the suicide urges and his psychotherapy to strengthen her ego self-image and teach her some coping strategies to strengthen her ability to pleasure herself, he thinks his sessions can succeed.
His plan is many-splendoured: First, he wants to restore her social situation. Because of the affair, qshe lost work - she needs to get a salary, get involved, and get busy. Then give her back a hedonic life: In therapy he will suggest widening interests - to enjoy healthy eating more, to start fun hobbies like stamp collecting, jigsaw puzzle, tropical fish, knitting, and to add to or improve on sensual pleasures without getting involved in sexual relationships.
So these are Stan's plans, as he enters the room of the Golden Mean and sits facing Xenia Green. He makes sure his chair is close enough for relaxed talk but not so close they could reach and touch. "Good Morning, Miss Green."
"Hello, Doctor, I love this room. Makes me feel good."
"Miss Green, I will like your permission to use your given Xenia without suggesting familiarity."
"Doctor, I appreciate your caring. I will like for you to call me Xenia. And remember - say it Sane-ya. If you say Ekseenya, as too many do, it will drive me nuts." She laughs.
Stan says: "Today, I introduce you to an attitude I call Win-Win. The idea behind it is that each one of us may get unduly affected by personal loss that happens in our life. For a very sensitive person, sometimes even a little thing like losing a $10 bill can throw the person into a depression."
Xenia laughs. "Doctor, when you're out of work, losing ten dollars is not winning; it's losing."
"OK. Then let's consider your losing the ten dollar bill? If you start off thinking Win-Win, you will have in mind Well, of course, I am happy to have this ten dollar bill in my hand because with it, I'm going to buy that pretty hat in the store window. On the other hand, if you lose the ten dollar bill, then that thought gets opposed by But I don't really need the pretty hat. I would have worn it once or twice and then had it clutter up my closet. So I would have lost the ten dollars just the same in buying the hat. Now, because of the disappointment at losing the money, I'm going to value my money more, buy things I really need and save money. So in a way, losing it was lucky. A win too."
Xenia suddenly smiles. "Excuse me, Doc! I just got a sudden feeling about what you say. I don't know! A happy feeling ! Gee, Doc, can you teach more a this stuff? I mean thank you for caring." She stops, suddenly embarrassed, and then takes a handkerchief from her pocket and puts it over her eyes and is silent a minute.
After she removes the handkerchief from her face, Stan says. "OK, Xenia, session over. Have a good week and remember, for anything just call me. You know - the number I gave you. She can't speak because of the emotion. She nods Yes.
For next, click 14.11 Always Say Yes
In practical dimensions, the ratio 1.618 is almost satisfied in a 4.854-by-3 (feet or meters for a room) rectangle, and artists have found this ratio gives the aesthetic effect to make humans feel good. The Ancient Greeks laid out the Acropolis in Athens according to the Golden Mean. And great artists - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rembrandt - used the ratio.
Stan had the room designed so a person inside sees every surface in Golden Mean dimension. It is a southwest corner room of the hospital, the 15-foot-long wall a southern exposure of 2 windows; and the around-corner, shorter west giving the dimensions, golden mean.
Stan has Brenda put a set of thin curtains over the windows to transmit the natural light. He wants to prevent intimacy yet preserve privacy, to give a feeling of confidentiality but avoid fostering seduction. The floor is a plastic mild green to give an impression of grass like on a golf course, the walls have a cover design of forest greens and browns with light sky background, giving a feeling of depth and nature, and the ceiling is white and blue like a pleasant sky but without the visuals of clouds or blue sky. No desk uses up the room space or makes a person feel office. Two chairs with armrests and form-fit for one's back are light enough to be easily moved about.
Along the longer wall on left on entering is a sofa. On the shorter west wall is a rather large, if measured 4.854 feet long and 3 feet high painting by Joe that Brenda titles You'll See a Pink House. It is a scene in a big meadow of green grass. The perspective is so that the depth of the picture shows in distance a rising hill and atop it a charmingly painted pink house. And in the middle of the meadow a boy and girl dressed for an outing in the countryside, holding hands, happily run towards it. The painting gives a carefree feeling of nature, youth and health.
10. A Session
A woman secretary opens the door. "Please choose a chair, Miss Green. Dr Pelc will be in shortly".
From his analysis, Stan's idea is that, in Xenia Green's case, a superior-position white man took advantage of his master status, used her body without care for her sensibilities and then discarded her. Feelings of racial & class inferiority, and sexual powerlessness amplify the effect, attacking her feelings of worth, damaging her self esteem and causing anhedonia - an inability to enjoy the normal pleasures. That, with the feelings of worthlessness and a social situation badly worsened by her losing her job, makes suicide an escape option. The key link is her inability to forget the emotional memory. She has become obsessed with it and it gives her a feeling of being the world's worst loser.
Stan's neuroanatomy knowledge allows him to conclude that this powerful negative emotional memory has got fixed deep in the part of her left brain's memory storage. Left side because she is right handed and, like speech, the dominant side of the brain for memories is the opposite side from handedness. And this is not like the usual memory that is normally not brought to mind unless needed. It has an emotional tag that forces it on her. Stan knows that the pathway in the brain between the memory center and the urge to suicide is a band of nerve fibers going from the rear of brain, forward and upward and around to the frontal lobe. And he knows that in the worst cases, where such a memory cannot be buried by time and psychotherapy, a neurosurgery like Leo Davidoff experimented with on Joe Pro could be done. But he does not want to propose that until he has given his psychoanalysis a try. With the Morphine syrup to reduce the suicide urges and his psychotherapy to strengthen her ego self-image and teach her some coping strategies to strengthen her ability to pleasure herself, he thinks his sessions can succeed.
His plan is many-splendoured: First, he wants to restore her social situation. Because of the affair, qshe lost work - she needs to get a salary, get involved, and get busy. Then give her back a hedonic life: In therapy he will suggest widening interests - to enjoy healthy eating more, to start fun hobbies like stamp collecting, jigsaw puzzle, tropical fish, knitting, and to add to or improve on sensual pleasures without getting involved in sexual relationships.
So these are Stan's plans, as he enters the room of the Golden Mean and sits facing Xenia Green. He makes sure his chair is close enough for relaxed talk but not so close they could reach and touch. "Good Morning, Miss Green."
"Hello, Doctor, I love this room. Makes me feel good."
"Miss Green, I will like your permission to use your given Xenia without suggesting familiarity."
"Doctor, I appreciate your caring. I will like for you to call me Xenia. And remember - say it Sane-ya. If you say Ekseenya, as too many do, it will drive me nuts." She laughs.
Stan says: "Today, I introduce you to an attitude I call Win-Win. The idea behind it is that each one of us may get unduly affected by personal loss that happens in our life. For a very sensitive person, sometimes even a little thing like losing a $10 bill can throw the person into a depression."
Xenia laughs. "Doctor, when you're out of work, losing ten dollars is not winning; it's losing."
"OK. Then let's consider your losing the ten dollar bill? If you start off thinking Win-Win, you will have in mind Well, of course, I am happy to have this ten dollar bill in my hand because with it, I'm going to buy that pretty hat in the store window. On the other hand, if you lose the ten dollar bill, then that thought gets opposed by But I don't really need the pretty hat. I would have worn it once or twice and then had it clutter up my closet. So I would have lost the ten dollars just the same in buying the hat. Now, because of the disappointment at losing the money, I'm going to value my money more, buy things I really need and save money. So in a way, losing it was lucky. A win too."
Xenia suddenly smiles. "Excuse me, Doc! I just got a sudden feeling about what you say. I don't know! A happy feeling ! Gee, Doc, can you teach more a this stuff? I mean thank you for caring." She stops, suddenly embarrassed, and then takes a handkerchief from her pocket and puts it over her eyes and is silent a minute.
After she removes the handkerchief from her face, Stan says. "OK, Xenia, session over. Have a good week and remember, for anything just call me. You know - the number I gave you. She can't speak because of the emotion. She nods Yes.
For next, click 14.11 Always Say Yes
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