Therapy in an Alternate Reality

"So Erin, who's my next client?" I asked. As far as I was concerned this was a normal day so far. This morning I had a client come to the realisation that she was in an abusive relationship, and that her kids were being illegally abused. An emergency worker struggling to open up about the trauma of seeing a severely fatal crash and a whole host of other issues ranging from ordinary arguments to the life shattering. Yet my assistant, Erin was just about to let me know about someone who might just have been my strangest client in my entire career. They seemed to be doing fine by the time the sessions were over, but it was certainly a new and challenging situation.

"Our next client is a bit of an unusual one. Just today they started acting very abnormally, but in such a nonchalant way it seemed normal to them. They seem to think that before yesterday their strange behaviour was actually the norm, and how we act now was considered perverse or disgusting - even though we've always acted in these ways. They seem to be struggling to do basic things to live a normal life and need help adjusting. It seems to be a rather odd delusion. Seeing how normal people act seems to be causing anxiety, often severe, and they just can't seem to act normally no matter what. Anyway, I'm sure you can help them sort out reality and help them adjust".

"I see" I replied thoughtfully "It almost sounds like they came from an alternate reality."

"I mean, you're a woman of science" she responded. "Surely you know such things are just science fiction."

"You say that" I argue back calmly and thoughtfully. "But strange things happen more often than you'd think. I think it's best to keep an open mind. Besides as you said, the client seems to be operating by different norms. We could conceptualise a world where those are the norms as a useful framework to help them understand the reality they definitely are in now. Besides it's not my job to worry about whether they really did come from an alternate reality, only to understand how their mind is processing the real situation."

"I'm just thinking this sounds like a case for the asylum"

"Well, if it turns out to be, I can always make a case. But in the meantime let's see what I can do. You might be surprised"

"I guess you're right"

"Excellent." I said, looking forward to meeting this client and getting stuck into what promised to be an interesting set of sessions. "When do they arrive?"

"In about 15 minutes"

"Ok so plenty of time. What is their name? And what alternate reality do they appear to have come from?"