| |
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Hello, Doctor Balis! It's great to see you again.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Hello, Jesse. Good to see you as well. Please have a seat.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Thanks, Doc. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Yes, it has been, Jesse. Let's start with how you've been doing since our last session, okay?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Sounds good--a little catch-up. Well, let's see. It was November, just before Thanksgiving, that I was here last. If you remember, Maddie's parents were arriving for a visit, as well as her brother and Sammy, her best friend.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Yes, I do remember. And I also remember you seemed anxious about the impending visit. How did it go?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Anxious isn't even close to how I was feeling! Well, the visit was going okay at first. Everyone put on a happy face for the holidays. We almost seemed like a normal family. Then Maddie's snooping mother found a notation on her day planner about her next OB visit. Of course, she started probing, gently at first. Then she was really direct.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I see. And how did you and Maddie handle that?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Well, we told them. We also told them we didn't know if it was mine or the rapist's. They went nuts! I told you they are very religious, and they do not believe in abortion under any circumstances. They started going on and on about how it didn't matter if the baby was mine or not. Blah, blah, fucking blah. Then, they started demanding Maddie return with them that night to St. Louis. Maddie was hysterical. She really didn't want them to find out until after we had the results, and then only if the baby was mine. And she is mine, I think I told you that already.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Yes, you told me during our phone conversation. I'm really very glad that it worked out that way. Now, please continue.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Okay, where was I? Oh, yeah. Well, they wanted her to go home. She almost went, too. I couldn't deal with the chaos, so I took off on my scoot. I figured if she was going to go, there was nothing I could do to stop her. Sammy, thankfully, stepped in. She talked to Maddie for a long time. Then, she talked to Maddie's parents. Then, when I got back, she talked to me. She really was a great help in all of this mess.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
It's good that she was there and able to help.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
So Maddie stayed. Her parents left the next morning. Sammy stayed for a few more days, and that really was great. She sat Maddie and me down and made us talk. We yelled, we fought, we cried, and we broke through. We realized that seeing different doctors, taking different advice, and listening to everyone except each other was where a lot of our problems were coming from.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I see. So, did things start to get better from there?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Yes, they did for quite some time. We got the genetic tests results in early January. That was a major relief. We could finally focus on her pregnancy and our baby and be happy about it. Let me tell you, it's something else--finding out that you're going to be a parent, I mean. Nothing has ever made me so happy in my life.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
That is very good news, Jesse. Becoming a parent can bring out the best in many people. How did things go from there?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Let's see, we were up to January. Hmm...well, things went really good through February and the first part of March. We were really happy. We put a lot of the mess of the last year behind us. Maddie was still pretty messed up about the rape, but she was starting to make great progress. Then, on March twenty-first, they caught the rapist. About a week before, he had raped another woman not too far from our house. That freaked Maddie out pretty bad--he killed that woman. Then, they caught him. It turned out he had been the ex-property manager at the complex where Maddie was raped. In fact, he was the man that showed us the apartment when we were first looking there. That really messed Maddie up. You always kind of think of rapists as deranged looking wild men. But this guy was as clean-cut as they come! Or so he appeared to be.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Appearances can be deceiving.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Yeah. I've been doing some reading about this. Rapists come in many forms. And there are also different types of rapists that rape for different reasons. From what I could gather about this guy, I think he's in the Sadistic category. I know the rapes had gotten progressively more violent, and the last one ended in murder. This kind of rapist is the most dangerous and the most cunning. The sadistic rapist is usually of a higher intelligence and is hard to catch, usually because his victims die. Maddie is very lucky to be alive.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
You have been doing some reading about this. It's a good way to get some measure of control over the situation.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Hmm, perhaps. He was a sick bastard. I didn't even tell you half the things he did to Maddie. She is very lucky to be alive, and we both do know that. We have met some of his other victims since he was caught. Some of these women will be forever disfigured--cuts on the face, burns on their bodies...just really sick shit.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I'm very glad they finally caught him. How did you and Maddie react to his capture?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Well, at first, we were elated. The bastard was off the streets. But then, when she found out who it was, it really freaked her out. It just wasn't what she expected. Then the police wanted her help to make sure he was put away. It really put a lot of pressure on her. She started having anxiety attacks and was sick all the time. And she was seven months pregnant at that point. It really took its toll on her. In the first part of April, her doctor put her on total bed rest. She was having a lot of contractions, and the doctor was really afraid that all of this stress would send her into full-on premature labor.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I can imagine the stress was immense for her. Putting her on bed rest was probably the best thing.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
I agree, though she didn't stay in bed much. We took that time and did up the nursery and spent time together. It was great for us both, I think. She usually worked a lot, and this gave us an opportunity to spend a lot of time together. However, she did start to get really bored and frustrated towards the end. She was pretty uncomfortable--I guess that's normal--and just wanted the baby to be born. Then her due date came and went, and I thought she was going to go nuts!
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Well, the final wait for the birth can be very frustrating.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
You're telling me! But when she finally went into labor, that was another nightmare all in and of itself. Ha! I don't think we were there an hour before she started screaming for an epidural. So much for her thoughts of natural childbirth. And on May fourteenth, at 9:37 p.m., our little baby daughter came screaming into the world, healthy as could be. We named her Natalie Anne. I will bring a picture next time. It's hard to believe she is almost three months old now.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I'm glad she was a healthy baby. How was the delivery for Maddie?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Well, she felt like she let herself down by opting for the epidural. But I think it was for the best. It was a rather scary and exhilarating experience for me. On one hand, I felt bad for Maddie being in so much pain, but there is nothing in the world like watching your child being born.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Hmm. How do you feel about the baby now?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Well, Maddie went back to work the week after the Fourth of July. She felt she had been gone long enough. Since I don't have a "real" job, I stay home with Natalie while Maddie works. I don't know, though...Maddie seems almost jealous of the baby sometimes. Or maybe she is jealous of me spending so much time with the baby. I don't know.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
I see. How is your relationship with Maddie now? Is it strained?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
I don't know if I want to call it that. But it has been changing. I think it's just because we are parents now, and things are changing because it's not just the two of us anymore. Plus, the trial for the rapist is coming up soon, around the end of September. And there are deadlines at work and just the general stresses of life. It's an adjustment period, I guess.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
There are a lot of adjustments when a couple has a baby. Things do change. You get less sleep and work more. And from what you've told me, it doesn't sound like there are overwhelming problems in your relationship with Maddie with the exception of the trial. So I'm curious, Jesse, why have you decided to come back into therapy?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Well, Doc, there are just so many changes. Maddie seems to be pulling away from me again. Or maybe I'm just reading her wrong and she's just adjusting, like you've said. We had gotten so close, and now it seems to be slipping away again. And I don't quite understand what's going on. I suggested to Maddie that maybe we needed to come back just to get some perspective on life and all the changes we had lately.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
And did she agree?
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Yes, she actually did. She liked the idea of us both seeing one therapist.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
You do both understand the conflict this is going to cause? I can't disclose what either of you say. And the advice I'll give will not always be what is best for the relationship, rather what will be best for you as individuals.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Yes, we do understand. We are cool with that. It's not like we need marriage counseling or anything. We just need some perspective on life.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
Good, as long as you both understand.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Sounds good. Do you mind if we wrap this up a few minutes early? I need to go get Natalie. She is at our neighbor's house, and I don't like to leave her anywhere for too long.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
All right. I'll see you next week, Jesse.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Let's make it two weeks. Maddie will call and make her own appointments, just like we were seeing separate doctors.
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Balis:
|
|
That sounds fine. I'll see you in two weeks. Take care, Jesse.
|
|
|
|
|
Mr. Trent:
|
|
Thanks. You too, Doctor Balis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
###
|
|
Doctor Balis' Notes on this Session
Transcripts of Jesse Trent's Communications
