It had been over 20 years but a memory or was it a fantasy from my past keeps haunting me. It was "buried" for most of that time but over the past few months it became an obsession. The thoughts and images the fill my mind is fuzzy but are they real or a result of a vivid imagination? It has become too much of a burden that I am seeking professional help to sort it out.
Dr. Alexa Winchester is a prominent physiotherapist in Tampa. I was referred to her by a close friend who had been treated by her over the past year. She uses a combination of standard psychiatric medicine and hypnosis. No matter how deep the problem appears, she gets to core of the issue.
As I approach the door to her office in high rise office building, suite 426, the nervous tension in my stomach becomes high. These memories or fantasy plagues me every day. Are they real or just a twisted sexual fantasy that disturbs me sense of well-being. Opening the office door, the receptionist greets me. As usual the first thing I do is fill out the usual paperwork and hand over my insurance card.
"Dr. Winchester will be with you in a few minutes. Please be seated."
Time passes slowly waiting to be called into the doctor's office. My internal voice keeps saying, "This is crazy. You know how embossing it will be trying to explain your situation to real professional? Just get up and leave." At that moment Dr. Winchester appears from her office and invites me to join her. It's too late. I must now confront my memories of fantasy.
Dr. Winchester invites me to be seated and asks me to share with her why I am seeking her help. After a moment's hesitation I respond, "Doctor I have recurring dark thoughts about something that may have happened in my past or a fantasy that is not something I would like."
Dr. Winchester empathically responds, "Please call me Alexa, it makes our session much more enjoyable. Tell me a bit about these dark thoughts."
"I feel very weird just talking about it. I have memories or a fantasy about being at a party in college and being seduced and sexually used by him. This is haunting and very frightening to me. I am not gay, but the situation would seem to be a gay memory or fantasy."
Alexa nodding her head in an understanding way asks, "How long have you had these thoughts?"
"I am not certain but over the past year they have become very frequent and intense. They always go back to my days in college, but I have no real memory of anything like these thoughts ever occurring."
Dr Winchester looked at me for a moment and said, "Sometimes we experience things in our past the either our so disgraceful or traumatic that they are blocked from our memory. The problem is that these unresolved incidents stay in the back of your minds. At some later for reasons not totally clear they return. Usually some unrelated event triggers the recall. It could be a personal situation that develops, a conversation with a friend, or even a TV program can start the recall process."
"I can think of anything in my past, let alone while I was in college that would have created this type of memory."
She replied, "That's not uncommon. If you blocked out an event or situation, you won't normally recall it just by thinking about it. The best way to really determine what is happening in your mind is through hypnosis. I have done this many time before with great results. Are you interested and willing to dig into the your "vault" of personal experiences and see what's going on?"
I responded, "Doctor, this sounds a bit scary to me, but I must know what is haunting my thoughts and keeping awake at nights. You are the professional so let's do hypnosis."
"Okay, let's start by having you sit in the recliner and get comfortable. Sometimes taking off your shoes makes it easier to get into the process."
I move to the recliner; remove my shoes; and adjust the chair to a comfortable position.
"Now relax and look at the white light over my shoulder. Do you see it?"
"Yes"
"Now concentrate on that light and relax. You are in a safe place where there is no judgements or criticism. You are letting the stress of the day pass through your body and out your feet. You totally safe and free of any stress. You will feel very comfortable sharing your thoughts and ideas with me without any reservation or hesitation. You are feeling very relaxed now and ready to release all that burdens you. Do you feel relaxed?"
I responded almost automatically, "Yes doctor I feel relaxed and safe with you."
"Good, anything and everything you say remains between us. No one will every know what we talk about. You will be uninhibited and free of any limitations. You unable to hide anything from me. I want to know all about your memories and how you felt about then as you experienced them. You will not be afraid and will share it all with me. Is that clear?"
I respond, "Yes doctor, I will share everything with you."
"Let's start. Tell me where and how this experience or fantasy starts."
After a minute's pause I start, "I am in my senior year at the University of Michigan. It's about 9:00 PM on Friday night at the main library where I am finishing research for a term paper that will determine 40% of my semester grade. The pressure is on since the paper is due in just over a week. The Political Geography class is exciting, and this should be an A grade class."
"There is a party at an apartment off campus that I was invited along with some of my friends. The cold March rain makes the walk to the apartment uncomfortable. Arriving, the front door is open, and the party is clearly going strong. I know some of the people and we start talking. A number of good-looking girls are drinking beer and getting wild. The music is loud, but you can still hear people as you talk. This starts off very well. A bit awkward socially, I am unable to make a connection with several good-looking girls."
Into my second beer, a graduate instructor approached me. He was my instructor in a psychology course I took the previous semester. "Hi, James, how are you doing this semester?"
Doug Schmansky is about 30 years old and an intelligent guy. He taught a very interesting class that I enjoyed and got an A grade.
"Hi, My Schmansky" I replied.
"Please call me Doug were not in class. I remember you from last semester as one of my most intelligent and participative students. You always sat in front and asked questions. I appreciated that because you took an interest in the class unlike so many students who sat in the back of the room and couldn't wait until the class was over."
I said, "You did a great job of teaching and I found the class very interesting. I also appreciated the A which helped my GPA."
He laughed and we started to talk about the basketball team which was doing at best mediocre. As we talked my second beery required me to go to the bathroom. Before I left Doug said, "Please come back I am enjoying our conversation." I agreed.
Upon returning Doug handed me a new beer and we continued to talk. After a few minutes the conversation turned to the research Doug was doing for his thesis.
He started by saying, "I am doing a great deal of work on human sexuality. The basis of my paper is that there is really no difference between men and women. That what is between their legs does not determine their sexuality. It is their predetermined orientation determined before they are born."
This sounded interesting but I wasn't quite understanding the validity of his argument. Nodding I asked, "That seems too much for me to understand. A guy is a guy and girl are a girl."
He replied, "That is what we have been told for generations. Look around this room do you see just men and women?" Before I could respond. "You see that good-looking girl talking with that athlete? You think that is a guy/girl but that's not what it seems. The girl is really a guy who decided she was really a woman."
I couldn't buy that at all. That girl was gorgeous. "How do you know that?" I asked.
"She came to me for advice during her freshman year when she was registered as a boy. I gave her advice and provided professional support. You see the results. If you saw her naked you would see that what is between her legs is not what you would assume."