Dr. Rivera visits Chase again

Chase proudly examined his handiwork. Valeria again stood before him in a trance. He smiled at how easy it was to manipulate her.

Dr Rivera had showed up at his house today, confused but following his hypnotic suggestion. He had her lay down on his long couch so he could begin his real work on her for the day.

He sat down in a chair beside the couch and began. "Valeria, how have you been feeling today? Especially about yourself?"

"Tired and confused," she responded blankly. "Guilty."

Chase grabbed onto that. "Guilty ... about the weakness you've encouraged in your son? About your failure as a mother?"

"Yes" she said simply, but he could her the anguish in her voice.

"And your failure as a doctor too, correct? After all, we already established your hypocrisy - working to 'fix' others when what who you really needed to fix was yourself. Right?"

Chase could see the struggle on Valeria's face. "Y...yes?" she hesitantly agreed.

"So you feel guilty about your failures. Your lies. Pretending to be good and wanting to help people when all you are really doing is trying to avoid your own issues. Your weakness."

He could see her resisting, so he continued to repeat and reinforce statements. "The same weakness you've instilled in Diego. You know you haven't been a good parent. Instead of teaching Diego to be strong, you've only made him weak ... teaching him to be a failure like you."

Her expression slowly shifted from one of confusion to despair as his word sunk in. Even in the trance she looked like she might burst into tears. Chase relaxed back into his chair with a satisfied grin. 'Time to switch gears,' he thought.

"Valeria, sometimes all this becomes almost too much to bear, doesn't it? Your weakness. Your failures as a parent. The hypocrisy of your profession ... of your entire life." He brought her back to the 'truths' he had instilled in her previous session. "Admit it, Valeria. You are so tired of it all, aren't you? The exhaustion of all the lies to others and yourself, pretending to be strong. To be good. To actually care about helping others when what you really want is to escape from it all, to be free of all those expectations and rules."

Chase could sense some resistance in her expression and body, but less than yesterday. She was accepting his word as a fundamental truth, as he drew on her deeply buried insecurities and fears. But he needed to push her further to make her more like the Val he created earlier. He continued to repeat and expound on these 'truths' until she seemed to accept them as genuine - aspects of her personality and life he had revealed. Then he moved on.

In a softer, more supportive tone he continued. "Valeria, when someone feels overwhelmed by their thoughts and feelings, or dissatisfied with their life and choices, they often fantasize about having done things differently don't they? Perhaps even imagine that their life was completely different or that they were someone else. It's only natural - normal human behavior, correct?"

"Yes," she agreed with no hesitation. Chase felt confidant. Everyone fantasized like that at some point, no matter how happy they were with their life. And with Valeria he was successfully playing on her own hidden insecurities and fears, magnifying them to weaken her contentment with her life and her self-image.

"You've sometimes you've fantasized yourself. Imagined that you were strong, confident - not bound by what others thought of you. A powerful woman who knows what she wants and doesn't hesitate to take it. That's right, isn't it."

Looking a little confused, Valeria answered "yes" again.

Chase leaned forward in his chair, barely containing his excitement as he pushed toward today's goal. "You even built an elaborate fantasy version of yourself you call 'Val'. A woman with a detailed history, a life so totally different from your own. We talked about her yesterday. Remember her," he commanded. "Val, the strong, sharp, merciless woman without any of your insecurities. Val, who isn't limited by the hypocrisies you've wrapped yourself in. Val, who doesn't let other people tell her she has to be good or selfless, giving up her real desires so that she can give in to everyone else's. In fact, Val helps people far more than Valeria ever could. Your weakness only serves to make others soft and feeble - especially Diego. Val makes other people stronger by making them confront their own weakness."

He gave Valeria a moment to absorb everything, then he added "Val doesn't take shit from anyone. Val is everything you're not. She's the woman you've always secretly wanted to be, isn't she?"

"Yes," she answered, this time with almost a longing sound in her voice.

"Whenever you feel insecure, dissatisfied, or depressed, you lift yourself by thinking about this woman, Val. Working out the details of her life. Picturing how she would deal with whatever situation you're facing. Imagining yourself as her, letting go of your negative feelings and embracing the strength from being Val. Her sharp and merciless wit. Her confidant flirtatiousness. The freedom she feels from doing whatever she wants, regardless of how it affects others. The sense of power she gets from her casual cruelty. Let those feelings flow through you right now. Enjoy the sensations of being Val."

There was a shift in Valeria's body language. She seemed to relax as she breathed deeply. Her expression shifted into a slight smile.

'Let's bring this to full circle,' Chase thought. Aloud, he said "You've even started dreaming of Val, about being her. Last night you had an amazing dream that makes you feel incredible when you think about it. Let's go back through the details .... remember..."

Chase walked her back through the details of her time as "Val" yesterday, presenting it all as memories of her dream. "This wasn't the first time you dreamed of being Val," he explained, "but it was the most detailed and exciting. Especially with the new element - you dreamed about having Chase as a close friend and lover. In this dream you were around his age. And you had known him your whole life. But that doesn't bother you when you think about it. There's nothing wrong or weird about that. It was only a dream."

He paused a moment, considering his words. "If you try to analyze it, you'll realize that having Chase in your dream makes sense. Chase has many qualities in common with Val, so incorporating him into your dreams - or fantasies - is simply your mind matching a real person with the characteristics you admire. And it's only natural to feel some attraction to him. After all, he's almost the male version of your fantasy persona. There's nothing strange with that. Even if it would be inappropriate or impossible for Valeria to be with someone like Chase, he's the perfect match for Val. So as you let yourself fall into fantasies about the details of Val's life ... about being Val ... you'll start incorporating Chase into them. As Val's lifelong friend and companion. As Val's lover, the only person who's opinions and wants she puts above her own."

'One last thing,' Chase thought to himself.

"Valeria, did you keep the clothes you took home yesterday? Do you still have them?"

"Yes," she responded. "I have the bag in my bedroom."

Chase smiled. He was somewhat surprised she didn't trash them. She was making progress faster than he could have hoped. "Don't worry about the clothing. Any confusion you've felt over having them was due to you repressing your memory of buying them. But there's no need to be embarrassed. You picked them up to add to your fantasy of becoming Val. You realized that just imagining isn't always enough anymore. Sometimes you want so strongly to be Val that you dress as her at home and pretend. Just for yourself. It's a private matter, so you don't want anyone else to know. But after your dream you're starting to wonder about sharing Val with Chase, maybe even dressing in those clothes to show him. You see that he's so strong - maybe he could help you come to terms with what you've been feeling. This idea will grow in the back of your mind each time you dress as Val at home."

He touched again on the aspects of 'Val' and her admirable traits. Once he was satisfied with his work he brought Valeria out of her trance, leaving her with very different memories of their time together and reinforcing his suggestion to keep returning each day to 'talk' with him. She left in a good mood, feeling refreshed and confidant that her meetings with Chase were helping them both.