Minnie Milton fidgeted nervously on the couch, occasionally glancing up at the colorful, abstract artwork on the wall across from her – but rarely looking Dr. Nelson in the eyes.
It was her first time to attend couples therapy with this particular counselor, and she was having difficulty getting comfortable with a new face in a new space.
“Mrs. Milton, I realize we don’t know each other well, and I can certainly understand how it might be difficult to open up,” said Nelson, leaning back in his leather chair. “But listen … we have a full hour for this first session, so let’s just ease into things, OK? No pressure, no expectations.”
Minnie said her husband, Carl, refused to attend the first meeting, which was part of their problem.
“Any time I tell him we need to see someone about our issues, he always has an excuse,” she explained. “Usually it’s work, and he’ll tell me it’s something that’s time sensitive and has to be dealt with right then. When I say work can wait, he’ll say things like, ‘the car won’t pay for itself,’ or the ‘house won’t pay for itself,’ … things like that.”
Dr. Nelson scribbled on his notepad and nodded.
“Let’s put all that aside for a moment,” he said. “Just walk me through a typical day – a typical work day.”
“Well, we get up around 5 a.m., and neither one of us are much on breakfast so usually we just drink coffee. Whoever gets to the kitchen first makes the pot and we have two cups each. And then I’ll sit on one end of the couch and he’ll sit on the other, and we’ll play word games on our phones for, oh, about an hour or so. Then after that we both go to work. We’re both involved in acquisitions.”
The doctor added a few more notations.
“I see,” he said. “And I’m guessing since you two are in the same line of work there’s likely some competition, and competition sometimes causes friction in a marriage. When you get home from work, do you compare notes? And by that I mean, do you discuss what you accomplished? I’ll bet more times than not you find yourselves trying to one-up each other, even if you don’t realize it. Sometimes that can be fun, but over time it can become unhealthy.”
Minnie sighed.
“You know, you could be right. We’re both very focused on our jobs, and really that’s our main problem, I think. We both want to be successful in the working world that sometimes it affects our personal life. We don’t really argue much at all, it’s just that at the end of the day we find that we haven’t made enough time for each other.”
Minnie was feeling more comfortable with Dr. Nelson, and the rest of the session seemed to fly by. By the time the hour was done, she was laughing and thanking the counselor profusely for making her feel better.
“I think we made a lot of progress in a short period of time,” Dr. Nelson said. “But the key is to get your husband to come with you to one of these sessions. Any chance we could do that same time next week?”
Minnie thought for a moment and shrugged.
“I don’t know, doc,” she said. “I’m not sure he thinks there’s a problem. And truthfully, with our jobs, it’s hard for us to get things lined up at the same time. Just let me call your office and try to arrange the next meeting. I’m not sure it’ll be next week, but I’ll be in touch.”
The two shook hands and Minnie walked out of the office, waved at the receptionist and headed for the elevator.
Once she reached the ground floor and exited the office building, she called Carl on her cellphone.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said. “How did it go?”
“Really well,” said Carl, who was driving away from Dr. Nelson’s house. “Dude had a couple of nice paintings that I was able to get into the trunk, and I found a little jewelry and more than $600 in cash. Not the best haul I’ve ever gotten but it wasn’t bad for an hour’s work.”
“Excellent,” Minnie said. “Next week we’ll try a Dr. Phillips. She lives in the Brookside neighborhood, so she should have plenty of stuff worth taking. I’ll text you her number and you can make the appointment. But this time, you sit through the session while I rob the house. Sound good?”
“Sounds great, Minnie. Love you!”
“I love you more!”
