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“You know I can’t comment on individual clients, Katy.”
“But he already said it did. I was just hoping to hear your perspective.”
Holly only smiled and shook her head.
“All right,” Katy said. “Can we talk about the risks associated with psychedelics?”
“Like all medications, they have side effects. But compared to most other psychiatric medications, they’re relatively safe and well tolerated.”
“What about the deaths? Like the stories of people jumping out of buildings because they thought they could fly?”
“There are very few deaths attributable to ketamine. Most of those occurred among recreational users who co-ingested multiple other substances like alcohol, GHB, or opioids.”
Katy eyed her skeptically. “And what about the potential for sexual violation?”
“Violation?”
“Like with that large study in Canada where some therapists were caught on video surveillance molesting patients who were drugged.”
“Unfortunately, rare as they are, cases of unethical therapists abusing their clients’ trust and vulnerability do occur. But the overwhelming majority happen without the use of any psychoactive medication.”
At the time of the interview, which was well before Elaine’s allegation, Holly had thought the reporter was just reaching for sensational claims to disparage her therapy. She was tempted to ask Katy if she or someone close to her had suffered a traumatic experience involving psychedelics, but Holly bit her tongue. In the end, she felt as if she had held her own in the interview and, to the reporter’s credit, the article was less biased or negative than what she had expected. Since the story ran, Katy has reached out regularly for follow-up, but Holly hasn’t replied.
Now, as she imagines how Katy might respond to Elaine’s allegations, Holly fights off a shudder and pushes the thought away. “You know the drill, Tanya.”
“You’ll call her back when you have a free moment?” her assistant asks.
Holly nods. They both understand it to mean she will ignore the call. “Can you please bring in the next client?”
A minute or two later, Tanya ushers in the last client of the day, Liisa Koskinen.
The fiftyish psychologist wears another loose-fitting, shapeless dress, this one a dull green. But as Holly sits down across from her, the first thing she notices is her colleague’s posture. Unlike previous sessions, when Liisa would sit ramrod straight, today she leans back in her seat with her hands resting loosely on her lap. Even her expression is free of the usual tension across her square jaw and through the frown lines at the corners of her eyes.
“Liisa, you look—”
“Less defensive?” she ventures with a wry smile. It transforms her face.
“I was going to say relaxed.”
“I’m not the easiest client, am I?” Liisa is grinning now, and the rare smile makes her look younger.
“It can be tough for those of us in this field.”
“To be a patient?”
“Exactly.”
“And you know this from personal experience?”
Holly shows her a small smile but doesn’t take the bait. She has no intention of sharing the details of her own mental health history. That would be crossing a line.
“There I go again, don’t I?” Liisa laughs. “Always trying to analyze the analyst.”
“Hard to turn it off, isn’t it?”
“A real job hazard. But it’s not like this is my first time in therapy. I can’t quite figure it out.”
“Figure what out, Liisa?”
