A Letter to our Editor, by Michael DeLollis, MD
RAPUNZEL AND THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST
In keeping with Dr. Gaede’s theme of “fun”, I offer this humorous sketch about psychotherapy A long time ago a young woman was picking herbs in a lovely garden in the Bavarian woods. Unbeknownst to her the garden was the property of a vengeful witch, who upon finding this offense, took the young woman’s daughter as compensation for the pilfered herbs. The witch locked this child away in a tower. With nothing else to do in the long hours of captivity, this child, Rapunzel by name, grew prodigious amounts of hair. Eventually, owing to disrepair the stairs to the tower became unusable and the witch began using Rapunzel’s hair for access to the tower. She would stand at the bottom of the tower and call out “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair so that I may climb that golden stair.” Soon a cascade of flowing locks would tumble out of the tower window and the witch would climb up. This ritual, as rituals want to do, repeated itself regularly until a prince happened to observe the process and intervened. He rescued the maiden by climbing up her hair, cutting her hair and carrying her from the tower using her hair for a ladder. This couple married and raised children, who had children, etc. Several generations later, a young female descendent of the line was picking herbs in a lovely Bavarian garden. Unbeknownst to her the garden was the property of a descendent of the vengeful witch, who upon finding this offense, took the young woman’s daughter as compensation for the pilfered herbs. It just so happens that this child carried the family moniker of Rapunzel to honor her ancestors. Ever notice how these family dramas seem to recur from generation to generation? This young woman was, as before, locked away in a tower in the woods and with the appropriate family genes, grew some really radically long hair. This latter day witch began using these tresses as a means of egress into the tower and the ritual was brought forth into the current time. “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair so that I may climb that golden stair.” Again this ritual was repeated daily until one August a psychiatrist on her annual holiday in the Black forest observed the scene. When the witch left, the psychiatrist uttered the magical phrase, “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair so that I may climb that golden stair.” Sure enough the hair came tumbling down. Rapunzel noting the different voice uttering the phrase invited the psychiatrist to come up and rescue her. At this time the following dialogue took place. Rapunzel: Please climb my hair and rescue me.”
10 CENTRAL VALLEY PHYSICIANS
Psychiatrist: Why don’t you come down here so that we can talk about your situation?” R: “I can't come down.” P: “What is preventing you from coming down?” R: “The witch won’t let me leave the tower.” P: “How does she prevent you?” R: “She has commanded me to stay.” P: “So you do every thing that she says?” R: “Well...” P: “So tell me how my coming up there would allow you to escape?” R: “The witch doesn’t control you.” P: “And she controls you?” R: “She’s got me locked in this tower doesn’t she?” P: “Does she?” R: “Well, I am in this tower aren’t I?” P: “And no one can come or go from that tower?” R: “Well no. She comes and goes every day.” P: “And she needs some sort of key to get in and out that only she has?” R: “No. She just climbs up this hair.” P: “This hair? Who’s hair is it?” R: “Mine.” P: “So she doesn’t take it with her when she leaves?” R: “That’s a dumb question. You can see that it’s still here.” P: “For anyone to use?” R: “I guess so.” P: “Who decides who uses it. I mean who lets it down and takes it up?” R: “I do.” P: “So can anyone use it?” R: “If I let it down.” P: “Are you anyone?” These conversations continued like this each afternoon through that August and several more. Eventually Rapunzel decided to use her own hair to climb out of the tower. She took that asset to Hollywood where she started Hair Club For Men. Thus she began rescuing princes. As for the psychotherapist, she found an absolutely enchanting herb garden deep in the woods near the tower. Countertransference does come to us all.
Spring 2021
