Therapy Duty

What a day in the office I had! My nine a.m. session with Pettrucio and Kathrine couldn't have gotten any worse. The two are so perfectly alike, they can't bear to stay in one room together without a fight. The two were so severely in need of therapy I could barley recognize them as a couple. Both headstrong, outspoken, and verbally (sometimes physically) rude. Any who, to start, I recognized some unusual behavior between the two...well unusual for a supposedly happily married couple for the very least. As soon as they walked into my office they were bickering about some hat the Pettrucio didn't like, which to be honest did in fact resemble a walnut. When I asked them their names Pettrucio introduced himself first then as Kathrine was about to open her mouth he overpowered her by his overarching voice introducing her as Kate. When Kate added that her name is not Kate, but Kathrine, her lovely husband told her to bite her tongue. Katherine the powerful, outspoken women she is responded by striking him further leading into an even bigger argument. Stuck in the middle of the two, being on opposite sides, I noticed a recurring theme from just a few minutes into meeting the delightful couple. From this first encounter with the couple, I automatically identified a sense of an attempted single sided dominance in the relationship. As the session continued the bickering got louder and more serious, I asked to talk to the two separately to get some real answers.
As for Petruccio, the obscene male in the relationship, had an interesting view over Kathrine. Or is it Kate? We will go with Kate for now. When I asked him how he thought his relationship with Kate was going, he responded with a an interesting tactic he made up on how to work it out. Petruccio told me he wishes to "tame her", the shrew, being Kate. He told me he would do this by acting out against every minor detail and to starve and tire her out so she will come to him and eventually submit to him. I have never in my 20 years of counseling have heard such mockery. Thank goodness they came here because this man must be nuts.
Moving on to Kathrine. As disgusted as I was while talking to Petruccio, my visit with Kathrine went much more smoothly. It does in fact seems as if she does truly love him despite calling him a "beslubbering beef-witted barnacle" give or take a few times. Other than that she says she does want to work on their relationship however she will not loose her voice.
After examining this bitter sweet relationship I gave them a set of long and short term goals to work on in order to turn the two into a happy couple. The first and most important is treating each other with respect and as equals, rather than property and owner. The second being that the two must work on communicating rather than yelling at each other. Third, and lastly, is that the two need to understand that since they are so equally loud and outspoken, they need to work on agreeing with each other to an extent while keeping an opinion of their own.
Well my job for today is done. What a relief I need a nap!