Penny Stewart, seperated

The first patient of the day was Penny Stewart, a recent divorcee. She was suffering from anxiety. She was embroiled in a nasty divorce from her husband, a wealthy lawyer. She was demanding $6,000 in alimony, her Range Rover, and the vacation house in the Colorado mountains. She came in and wanted to lie down instead of sit as she had a headache.

Penny immediately launched into a tirade about how her husband was a workaholic cheapskate who was always complaining she was spending too much money and not spending enough time with his kids from a previous marriage. She was fifteen years younger and was step mother to an 18 year old girl and 20 year old boy. The girl was a senior in school and the boy was a college student who was finishing up his "gap year" and had moved back home. Penny complained the kids did not share any of her interests: spas, tennis, shopping, reality TV shows about rich housewives and celebrities, and fashion TV shows. The girl was only interested in books and educational TV shows and she just knew the boy had a crush on her.

Frank did his best not to roll his eyes. He knew it would be hard to get this drama queen to relax, but managed to get her into his special deep trance.