Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 58 Stressors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

great.

Nan Zhuren seemed to see the small, curled-up beast, stripped of its armor, finally stretching out part of its body and beginning to breathe in the fresh air outside through its nose.

Seeing that Chen Ting was in good condition, he decided to proceed steadily and make persistent efforts.

“We’ve only been talking about things on the ‘island’,” Nan Zhuren continued, guiding the conversation. “What about other places?”

The sand table only contains islands and lakes.

"This is the lake that surrounds the island."

Chen Ting pointed to the model in the blue area and said, "This ship is in the lake, and behind it is an evil god who is chasing the ship."

At this point, all the models in the entire sand table have been explained.

Chen Ting fell silent again.

Nan Zhuren knew that all the information that was on the surface had now been interpreted, and the first stage of the sandbox interpretation was now complete.

Next, he will begin the second phase—using psychoanalytic techniques to interpret the implicit intentions of the sandplay.

Then, let Chen Ting face her subconscious and her inner self.

……

The sand table contains only islands, lakes, and nearly two-thirds of the remaining sand.

Out of caution, Nan Zhuren asked first, "Is there anything else among these?"

Chen Ting shook her head: "There's nothing left."

Nan Zhuren nodded to indicate that he understood.

He didn't let his speech flow too quickly, leaving time for buffering and relaxation.

After three breaths, Nan Zhuren asked a crucial question: "Is 'you' in this work?"

Chen Ting panicked for a moment.

[Breathing speeds up, nasal flares open.]

[Is pursing your lips a way of restraining yourself from saying something?]

The girl stared blankly at the small garden for a while: "No, there is no 'me'."

Nan Zhuren smiled, recalling Chen Ting's interpretation of the miniature garden, and began to chat casually as if she were somewhat curious.

He glanced at the isolated island and pointed to the lake surrounding it.

"You just said that this evil god is chasing the ship?"

"right?"

Why is this god chasing this ship?

"...God does bad things. This God is the God of Death."

"So the people on the ship are escaping."

"Correct."

"Why don't the people on the ship go to the island?" Nan Zhuren pointed to the building. "There's a house here; it should be quite comfortable to live in."

Nan Zhuren observed Chen Ting's expression and found that she did not show any rejection or defensiveness towards his words, and was smoothly guided into the topic.

She had a lingering, faint fear.

As they interpreted the sand garden concept and the topic deepened, their conversation gradually moved away from abstract models and began to touch upon concrete concepts in reality.

However, Chen Ting's fear did not deepen, but remained.

As Chen Ting's attention began to be drawn to Nan Zhuren's questions, this fear further subsided.

"We can't get into this room."

"why?"

“This spider,” Chen Ting pointed to the ugly insect crawling on the roof, “is guarding this home and will drive away anyone who tries to escape into it.”

Nan Zhuren questioned, "Did you just say that this spider is good?"

He seized upon the contradictions in Chen Ting's account, which were subconscious conflicts that Chen Ting herself was unaware of.

Chen Ting paused for a moment: "Spiders are good sometimes, but not always. After all, it's just a spider."

Nan Zhuren looked thoughtful and said, "I see. Then the people on the ship can't go home."

Chen Ting lowered her head: "Yes, the people on the boat can't go to the island; they can only stay in the lake and keep moving forward."

"Where could they possibly run to, into the sea?"

"Without the sea, it's just a lake, and he can only run around the lake."

Nan Zhuren looked at the small island and the small lake surrounding it. If a ship could really escape in such a circular lake, it would eventually be caught up by the evil god behind it.

In fact, the scythe in the Western-style Grim Reaper was already hanging on the stern of the ship.

Nan Zhuren glanced around and suddenly looked as if he had discovered a new continent: "How about letting the people on the ship go ashore? There's such a big place out there, they can go anywhere, right?"

He brushed his palm up over the sand where no models were placed.

Yes, why do the people on the boat insist on going to the island? There are still two-thirds of the small garden where the people on the boat can "escape".

Chen Ting was stunned for a long time before she whispered, "It's too big outside; and there's nothing there."

"Also, the boat cannot go ashore..."

"The only place the people on the boat can go is the island, but there are spiders on the island, so he can't go ashore. He can only keep running forward, he can only run in the lake..."

When she said the last sentence, Chen Ting's voice became muffled.

It started with a slightly nasal tone.

Nan Zhuren lowered her eyes, making her voice even softer: "I just asked you where the 'you' in this work is, and you said that you're not in it." "Then if we look at this work again now, who do you 'think' you would be in it?"

Chen Ting listened attentively to Nan Zhuren's words.

Her voice began to break into fragments: "I... I might be here."

She stretched out her finger and pointed to the three dolls in the middle of the island.

Of the three dolls, two big and one small, Chen Ting hopes to be the one in the middle, the smallest doll.

Nan Zhuren grasped the key words:
"You 'm' here?"

"So that means it 'might' be somewhere else? Where?"

Chen Ting pursed her lips.

"At this."

This time, she pointed to the boat.

That pale, slender hand, like a branch in the north wind, began to tremble uncontrollably at some point.

Nan Zhuren asked in confusion, "Are you in two places at the same time?"

"Because one of them is fake."

Nan Zhuren pressed on: "Which one is real?"

"This is true."

He pointed his finger at the top of the ship.

A broken, heavy nasal sound reached her ears, and before she knew it, two tear tracks had appeared on Chen Ting's face.

She was sobbing.

Nan Zhuren breathed a long sigh of relief.

It became.

……

During the consultation, "crying" was a significant turning point.

It means that the visitor's emotions are entering a brief breakdown.

This means that all the counselor's previous efforts were targeted and effective.

The emotional breakdown also means that a crucial step can then begin—

Emotional reconstruction.

The topic can also be formally and thoroughly brought back to reality from the sandbox art.

……

Nan Zhuren handed the tissue to Chen Ting and waited quietly for a while.

When Chen Ting's breathing calmed down, and when her eyes were still wet with tears, but she could speak normally...

Nan Zhuren continued on the previous topic: "You're on this ship, so you're on the run."

"……Um."

Who's chasing you?

"...this evil god."

Nan Zhuren was not satisfied with this answer.

"The person on the ship is you." Nan Zhurenrang's voice deepened. "Then who is the 'god'?"

silence.

Nan Zhuren waited patiently, and after a long while, he finally heard a response.

"...It's Mom."

Nan Zhuren felt a sense of relief, but he didn't show it on his face and pressed on: "Is there anything else?"

"……Have."

Nan Zhuren didn't press further; he stopped.

He gave Chen Ting time to think, and time for her to recover her strength after crying.

After a long pause, Chen Ting continued, "It's Teacher Wang."

Nan Zhuren addressed him by his first name: "Wang An, is that the one I met at the lecture last time?"

“Yes, it’s him…Teacher Wang.” Chen Ting still used the respectful form of address.

Why would you want to run away?

Chen Ting took a deep breath.

She took a deep look at the sand table, at the dolls, the boat, the spider, the Grim Reaper, and everything else.

“Teacher Wang is a teacher at Jiangnan University and is very familiar with my father. Because I want to take the independent enrollment route, which involves separate written and oral exams, my father asked him to come and tutor me.”

"My mother is very happy because although my grades are good, they are still not good enough for Jiang University, especially for its law school, which is very competitive..."

"That was also my mother's dream."

"I cherish this opportunity and study very hard."

"But later I noticed that Teacher Wang was getting closer and closer to me during class..."

　Two thousand five hundred is quite a long chapter, isn't it?

　　Due to word count limitations, I haven't written out the intentions of each model. Feel free to guess in the comments section.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)