The Black Box.

I knock the door. Nothing happens! Feels like forever. I wait. He is making me a cup of coffee - before he opens the door.  He sees my surprise!  As I sit down I'm saying that I've had enough of writing my assignments, that I just want to be 'let off' And then I'm explaining how our three years of assignments are squeezed into two years. I am exhausted, and on the verge of being insane. And I'm talking about Unit 13, counselling children and how much I dislike   Erik Erikson (stages of development) and transitions. I explain again - "The art is to work out what the tutor wants, how to make it fit what I think the question means and fit the two together." He asks me 'what's wrong with Erikson'? Erikson - Erik - describes age related life challenges. Even when we did this in college we were in fits of laughter as we described our life challenges, not described by Erikson! Basically, life presents problems is all we are sure of. Erikson did...

Grey skies. Rain. I want to write to him and say...surely it doesn't have to be this way. For my heart really is breaking. I come in. Questions about heating and lighting - I sigh.  I sound beaten. Done... It's over. He asks about my assignments, I talk about comparing the three modalities of psychodynamic , humanistic and CBT . We now seem to be at crossed purposes. He is arguing that CBT isn't on the 'same par' as psychodynamic or humanistic modalities, because it derives from behaviourist theories . And also... He is likening CBT to marsupials - then asks me if I see what he is getting at? Bizarrely as it may seem, I think I do. But this isn't significant. I don't set the assignments. I'd like to believe that the paradoxical and irrational nature of so much of our work at college is but a cunning plan, a way to condition our minds - like a psychological hair conditioner - to erase tangles and make us smooth and sweet scented, to teach us to stop tr...

  "See that's what I see as a potential sticking point.  In the sense that normally in this space,  nothing is off the table  really"    I take a miniature table from my bag - it is actually one of those plastic things you get with a pizza. and I say  "There it is, there is the table".  He is confused. I say,  it is a symbolic table. I put it on the floor between us. I say:   "There, the table has been placed - for things to be put upon",  and he is still none the wiser. Me  -  "OK, no it is OK, I never expected you to understand it. You said something about 'not being able to put things on the table'.  He looks perplexed!  He asks,  'which table are we talking about?   and I say.  'ah, it is your metaphor not mine'.  He doesn't remember.  I say,  "That's fine if you don't remember - but it is your metaphor - about 'not being able to put things on the table. So there is the table, to...