Of course I realized that there were some problems in our marriage - you can't have two people living together, both trying to make careers for themselves, plus the usual chores, plus the stresses of daily intimacy and interaction without having a few difficulties. But I hadn't realized that my wife, Carol, thought they were so serious, until she suggested that we talk to a marriage counselor. When she first raised the issue, I resisted, protesting that things weren't that bad, but she was pretty adamant about it. Since I loved her deeply, I finally agreed, albeit reluctantly.

 

We arrived at the office for the appointment Carol had made, my last minute try to cancel falling on deaf ears. We were shown into a very feminine office, and that set me on edge a little. I felt that going to a marriage counselor was bad enough, but why did Dr. Welling have to be a woman? I would have preferred a male counselor, thinking that a female was going to give Carol the benefit of every doubt, but not wanting to upset Carol, I kept quiet. Dr. Welling walked into the office a moment later, and when I looked at her, I thought this might not be too bad, at least she wasn't some old frumpy lady. She was tall, nearly six feet, I guessed, and was dressed in a jacket and skirt set that did little to hide her beautiful figure. High-heeled pumps and sheer nylons graced her long, sexy legs, and when she sat down, and crossed them, she presented a very lovely picture, indeed.

 

"I'm glad to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. So many couples try to work things out themselves, or just ignore problems, until it's too late. I hope that I can help with whatever difficulties you may be having," she said in a throaty voice. "Doctor," Carol said, "I feel that we have a lot of stress in our marriage - not real serious problems, or at least not yet, but I love Don, and I know he loves me, and I want to make things work." Since Carol had said that, I nodded in agreement, and added, " I do love Carol very much, and while I agree that I don't think we have major problems, I don't want anything to spoil our marriage."

 

"Good, at least there's agreement on that! Some couples deny that there could even BE a problem until it's too late. Let me tell you a few things about the way I work, because it's a little different than what you might have heard or thought. I've found that the conscious mind often resists and fights any attempts at discussion of problems, and I understand that - it's only natural and human. But its also counterproductive, and it just runs the cost of counseling up unnecessarily. Couples come back time after time, and rehash the same things, defending their own viewpoints. This just increases stress, and, quite frankly, is very frustrating for me, as well as them. So I've developed a technique, using hypnosis, that bypasses all the nonsense, and gets right to the heart of the matter." She must have seen a skeptical look cross my face, because she laughed and said, "I can understand the reluctance you might have to this, but please trust me, Don, it really works." We talked about it for a few minutes, and Dr. Welling explained that we would have some joint sessions and some just one-on-one. "Remember, I am a doctor, and I'm very mindful of the need for confidentiality. What I will do, just for the first individual session, is give each of you a tape that you can listen to, so you'll feel better about the process. But I think that the joint sessions, at least for now, shouldn't be taped, since you'll be interacting, is that OK?"

 

That sounded fair enough to me, and she said that she would test us for our ability to be hypnotized. She took a silver ball that was attached to a thin chain, and began to speak in a soothing voice, "You are starting to relax, and feel a little drowsy..." That was the last thing I remembered, until I heard her say "3-2-1, you're now awake."

I felt like I had gotten a full night's sleep, and was wide awake, and I saw Carol waking up, looking the same way. I mentioned this to Dr. Welling, and she laughed, saying that she had given us a post-hypnotic suggestion that we should feel that way, "as an extra, no-cost bonus." She explained that we were both ideal candidates, having fallen into a deep trance with no difficulties whatever. She handed us each a tape, saying that she had done both a joint and individual sessions while we were out. For each individual session, the other person had been tuned out of the conversation. We thanked her, and left the office.