Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) Marc Lahoud wrote on www.helpmypatients.com: "you know what I would do? Make up some phony up Freudian reference and try to relate it to what Helen's saying. it's dishonest but it'll help her to see what a screw up freud is."

Helen

So I had dinner at my mother's the other day. And I got this terrible indigestion from eating her food. This has happened to me many, many times. I think that I associate eating my mother's food with somehow depleting her. I kind of associate it with being in the womb and feeling like I'm draining my mother on some level physically. I get that feeling when I eat her food and it makes me sick. I just can't eat her food. It's very problematic.

Dr. Fletcher

It always comes back to this indigestion.

Helen

It always comes back to this indigestion. I find it very troubling.

Dr. Fletcher

That's interesting that you say that because there is actually an essay by Freud, not at all well known, in which he documents a case with a remarkably similar symptom profile - indigestion from a mother's food.

And Freud was able to deduce quite convincingly that this was an indication of lesbianism.

Helen

Oh.

Dr. Fletcher

It's not something that you and I have discussed -

Helen

No.

Dr. Fletcher

But I wonder if that has ever been part of your experience.

Helen

There were a couple times maybe in college. Really one time in particular. I was hanging out with this girl all day. She was one of my best friends at the time. And we went back to my dorm room. We were going to watch a movie before bed or something.

We were sitting on my bed and I remembered that I had this bottle of wine so I opened it and we were drinking wine and getting a little bit tipsy. And it was early in the fall so it was getting kind of hot in there so I was going to change into my pajamas because they were kind of cooler.

So I opened the window to get a breeze and she was sitting on my bed and turned the movie off. And I went to put on my pajamas because I -

Dr. Fletcher

You know what, Helen, I'm sorry - our time is up. I'll see you next week.

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