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

Chapter 598 Reconstruction After Collapse
Unlike Professor Ji's plan, there is only one file for each visitor who needs urgent intervention, so it is impossible to print out too many.

Therefore, the psychological experts present passed it around in turn.

During this process, the experts' eyes occasionally glanced at Professor Ji, Bai Qinghua, and Weng Pingting.

It should be noted that both Professor Ji and Bai Qinghua are "masters" who have established their own factions.

The leaders in charge may not know what just happened, but the experts know it all – Bai Zong's eldest disciple launched a fierce attack and defeated Sect Master Ji without shedding a drop of blood.

Throughout this process, Sect Leader Bai remained silent, completely at ease, as if watching a performance.

The previous exchange of words between Chonghui and Teacher Yijinjiao on the bus, where the two sects seemed evenly matched, was instantly exposed.

Now look at the scene: Weng Pingting whispering to the person in charge, a student left standing aside with only a pound of glue, and Professor Ji sitting there expectantly.

Kind of funny.

Fortunately, everyone present was a respectable person who had received professional training in facial expression management, so they could keep their composure no matter how funny it was.

Professor Ji's expression was indeed not very good. He believed that he was about the same level as Bai Qinghua; if the support of the platform behind him was taken into account, he would be even better than Bai Qinghua.

As a result, that girl—she lacked martial ethics!
If only she were in her own research group, it would be such a waste for her to be an apprentice to this frivolous person!
Professor Ji took a deep breath, about to say something.

Suddenly, the youngest student behind Bai Qinghua stood up and gestured with his hand towards the file in his hand:
"Sir, where is this nurse now? I can go and conduct an initial assessment and intervention on her immediately."

All eyes immediately turned to Nan Zhuren.

The person in charge looked surprised—judging from Nan Zhuren's young face, he thought the other party was a consulting assistant he had brought.

So now you're in such a rush to start offering consultations?

He couldn't help but look at Weng Pingting with an inquiring gaze.

Weng Pingting didn't know which file Nan Zhuren had in his hand, and she was also a little surprised.

But in front of outsiders, she smiled firmly: "This is Nan Zhuren from our research group. In terms of consultation, he is one of the best among us—in some aspects, even I can't compare to him."

hiss--

This evaluation?!
The experts looked at Nan Zhuren's expression and became curious.

The person in charge looked surprised, and then glanced at Nan Zhuren's overly young face.

However, with Weng Pingting's guarantee, and because the situations of the comrades in these files are indeed quite critical...

After thinking for a moment, he took out a walkie-talkie.

"Someone, take the mental health specialist to the third medical point."

……

The third medical station in the disaster area, a temporary rest area.

The background noise was faintly audible.

Nan Zhuren followed behind the logistics personnel wearing yellow rescue vests, listening to their brief introduction: "Xiao Li has been giving off a very wooden vibe lately."

Because they weren't very close personally, the other party used a more formal form of address.

The staff racked their brains to come up with a word to describe Li Lingling: "Her reactions are always a beat slow. No matter what is mentioned, she has no expression on her face. When no one is talking, she just stays by herself. Everyone is very worried."

"He is obedient and eats, but very little. He will get up to help when cleaning the room, but he gets exhausted very quickly, which is unbearable to watch."

As they spoke, the staff member sighed, "She was such a nice person before..."

Compared to the people inside the hospital, the attitude of the staff on site towards Li Lingling was almost the opposite extreme.

Although the situation described seemed bad, Nan Zhuren's heart stirred slightly.

We can now collect information on "third-party impressions" again.

Using this information, combined with what I learned about Li Lingling from previous consultations, I can quickly develop an intervention plan; once we meet, we can implement the intervention decisively and efficiently.

Upon realizing this, Nan Zhuren immediately asked, "Do you know what happened before Li Lingling was sent here?"

The staff member blinked, opened his mouth, and then immediately pursed his lips. It looked as if he had something to say but didn't want to gossip about it.

Nan Zhuren immediately understood and said softly, "I hope to understand the cause and effect as much as possible. It's like when you go to the hospital to see a doctor, you need to know about her diet and daily routine over the past week. This will allow me to better help her..."

Upon hearing this, the staff stopped in their tracks.

After looking around to make sure no one was there, he whispered to Nan Zhuren.

“Xiao Li used to work at a temporary medical point on the front line, but she worked too hard and collapsed from exhaustion, so she was sent here.”

"I overheard the doctors who brought her here chatting, and they were all complaining about how difficult the disaster victims were to deal with..." The staff member paused here, as it wasn't convenient to publicize such things. "Anyway, the patient and medical staff got into an argument. Xiao Li had just argued once before she arrived, apparently because..."

Nan Zhuren listened with his head down.

He had long memorized Li Lingling's information, and at this moment, those columns and rows of text seemed to float before Nan Zhuren's eyes. He quickly compared and verified them with the information given by the staff.

On the surface, Nan Zhuren remained calm and continued walking inside after the staff finished explaining.

Until outside Li Lingling's hospital room.

dong dong dong-

The staff knocked three times, but received no response, so they opened the door with a creak and went inside.

Nan Zhuren saw Li Lingling lying on her side with her back to him.

The familiar figure, but unlike before, the other person now exuded a gray, murky aura, as if soaked in a flood.

The knocking and the sound of the door opening rang out, but Li Lingling didn't move at all, as if she had blocked out all her senses.

"Xiao Li, a team of psychological assistance experts has arrived from Beidu," a staff member said to Li Lingling. "They want to talk to you."

It described the current situation and what was about to happen. This presentation had a strangely consultative assistant feel to it.

Li Lingling did not answer or move.

The staff member sighed and said to Nan Zhuren, "It's alright, we'll go around to her. We might have to talk to her a few more times before she reacts..."

Nan Zhuren raised his hand to stop the staff member. He didn't say anything, but simply gestured for them to leave, saying he could handle things here.

The staff trusted the expert. After whispering a few instructions, he turned and closed the door with a bang, but there were no footsteps afterward, as if he was just waiting outside.

These sounds and these exchanges did not stir up the slightest change in Li Lingling.

Nan Zhuren remembered these reactions, and then his pupils slightly lost focus—

[Flow state]

In just two seconds, Li Lingling's current state, the staff's account, and the information collected in the past were arranged and combined to form a logical chain.

Then, a hypothesis was pieced together, awaiting verification. His gaze refocused, his consciousness returned. Nan Zhuren didn't speak immediately, but instead went straight to Li Lingling—

The visitor was curled up like a hedgehog in danger, protecting its most vulnerable parts; but the exposed limbs and muscles were soft, showing no sign of tension or defense.

Her gaze was unfocused, staring blankly at the damp window and the noisy world outside.

Nan Zhuren walked to the edge of Li Lingling's line of sight and stood still for a few seconds.

Then, in a steady, clear voice, loud enough for Li Lingling to hear but not aggressive, he called out her name: "Li Lingling."

Familiar voice.

In just one moment, the curled-up hedgehog began to tremble.

Li Lingling's eyes moved slightly, and she easily saw Nan Zhuren's face.

His pupils dilated slightly in surprise, and his pale cheeks began to flush with the surge of emotion.
Her body tensed immediately, and she subconsciously pulled the blanket up, as if trying to cover herself completely; but she stopped when the blanket reached her chin, as if her gaze lingered on the figure in front of her and she couldn't bear to look away.

Nan Zhuren observed the contradictory physical reactions and changes in expression of the visitor.

The hypothesis has been verified.

Then, we can begin intervention.

Nan Zhuren said softly, "I was sent to the disaster area to provide psychological assistance, and I came with a team."

“I saw your file, so I applied to come here.”

Let me first explain the cause and effect.

Nan Zhuren paused for a moment, confirming that this opening line would help establish a dialogue with the visitor.

He then calmly said without approaching or sitting down, "You tried to punish yourself for 'failing' at a crucial moment by pushing yourself beyond your limits, which led to the current situation."

The words were quite direct.

……

Previously, in the counseling room and in her daily work, Li Lingling's "defense" was "functional".

She used mechanisms such as "That's just how work is" [rational statement], "I don't feel anything" [emotional isolation], and "Nothing special" [denial] to maintain a superficial "normal" state.

In order to protect oneself from touching core traumas.

These "defenses," though unhealthy, form the cornerstone of Li Lingling's daily functioning.

Nan Zhuren had once dismantled all these defenses—he painstakingly removed the rotten wood from the crumbling towers, piece by piece trying to fill them with carefully carved stones and wooden beams, hoping to build a warm little house to shelter the little person in Li Lingling's heart.

The project was not even fully completed before it collapsed.

Based on the staff's previous description and Li Lingling's current behavior.

Nan Zhuren can confirm that in the massive trauma-triggered field of the disaster area, Li Lingling's old and fragile defense system was completely destroyed.

She can no longer cope with "numbness" or "reasoning," but instead experiences a more primal "state of collapse" stemming from the trauma itself.

The "survivor guilt" that was once an abstract concept discussed in the counseling room was completely activated and amplified in real work due to a specific "failure" and "being rejected", and became a "reality" that Li Lingling firmly believed in.

She no longer "discusses" trauma, but "lives" in the experience of trauma re-enactment.

This is a very dangerous situation.

If one is not careful, all the consulting gains that Nan Zhuren had spent months accumulating will be in vain.

Just before it was about to escape the deep pool, it was struck hard, and all that awaited it was a sinking deeper and deeper abyss.

Therefore, what Nan Zhuren needs to do now is not to delve into the trauma or solve the problem, but to "stabilize"—to pull Li Lingling back from the brink of dissociation and collapse, rebuild her most basic sense of security and reality, and create possibilities for subsequent healing.

Nan Zhuren needs to transform herself into a stable, reliable, and non-invasive "container" capable of containing all the intense emotions and fragmented selves that visitors cannot process on their own.

……

"You tried to punish yourself for 'failing' at crucial moments by pushing yourself beyond your limits, which led to the current situation."

This was the first sentence that Nan Zhuren chose to say in his formal consultation after the opening remarks.

The pace of the conversation was completely different from that of a typical consultation.

Nan Zhuren used the "divine interpretation".

By directly naming the underlying psychological motivation behind Li Lingling's behavior as "self-punishment," we bypassed all her surface defenses and made her feel deeply understood.

Using declarative sentences instead of questions reduces the pressure on visitors to answer.

Li Lingling's demeanor was completely different from when she first heard the staff member speak.

She trembled, her eyelashes blinked violently, and her lips pressed tightly together.

But she didn't deny it.

Nan Zhuren paused for two seconds to allow Li Lingling to process what he had just said before continuing, "I know it's very painful. But I understand. If I had the same experience as you, I might have made the same choice in that situation."

Empathy and normalization help to acknowledge the legitimacy of the visitor's emotions and alleviate their feelings of loneliness and shame.

After saying this, Nan Zhuren gently pulled over a chair and sat down, still maintaining a safe distance.

He took a deep breath and said in a low, steady, and gentle voice, "Now, if you'd like, you can try to feel the bed beneath you."

The topic shifted rather quickly, even somewhat inexplicably.

But Nan Zhuren's appearance and words just now felt abrupt.

It was abrupt, but not dangerous.

Moreover, Li Lingling and Nan Zhuren had already established a sufficiently strong consulting relationship.

Li Lingling involuntarily began to take deep breaths, her body twitching slightly to increase the contact between her skin and the object supporting her.

Nan Zhuren continued, “Feel it supporting your body… It may be a little hard, but it’s real and supports your weight.”

"Feel the blanket again... its weight and warmth covering your body..."

Three breaths passed.

Seeing Li Lingling's eyelids involuntarily close slightly, leaving only a slit enough for her to see the counselor clearly.

After my body gradually relaxed.

Nan Zhuren said softly, "You need to rest and be quiet now."

This concludes the opening section of this consultation.

(End of this chapter)