Hamlet and His Therapist | Teen Ink

Hamlet and His Therapist

February 26, 2021
By owenhagstrom BRONZE, West Orange, New Jersey
owenhagstrom BRONZE, West Orange, New Jersey
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Hamlet: Hi, Doc. I’m sorry it's so late, I just needed to talk to someone. 

Therapist: Good evening, Hamlet. It's all good, I have patients call emergency meetings all of the time. So what seems to be the issue today?

Hamlet: “O [Doc], I want [this] too solid flesh [to] melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!” Nothing has been going well for me recently. It just seems as if there is no solution to any of my problems. 

Therapist: Well, Hamlet. I understand that what you are doing through is tough and may seem impossible to get through right now but we wi-

Hamlet: Actually, I do have an idea. However “[if] the Everlasting had not fix'd his canon 'gainst self-slaughter” I would have my problems solved. “O God! God!”

Therapist: Hamlet. I understand that what you are going through right now is very difficult, however, suicide is never the answer. We can solve our problems through talking and discussion because guess what? Things will get better!

Hamlet: Doc, I’m sorry but all of this “talking this” and “talking that” will not solve the issues I am facing. Sometimes I just sit back and think about “how weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't! ah fie!” It’s like no one even cares about what I do either. My life “‘tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely.” I can’t even remember the last good thing that has happened to me! Like why does this happen! “That it should come to this!”


Therapist: I understand-


Hamlet: No you don’t. 


Therapist: Hamlet, I can not help if you do not let me speak. Where is all of this coming from? 

Hamlet: “But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: so excellent a king; that was, to this,

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother that he might not beteem the winds of heaven visit her face too roughly.” No one will replace him, Doc. My father is gone. No one will be a better King. Especially not my rotten Uncle. He treated her so well. 

Therapist: Hamlet, I am so sorry. Why did you not tell me about your father’s passing? That is something that we clearly needed to discuss two months ago!  However, I do think there are some things that we can do to make this easier upon ourselves. First, we should surround ourselves with those close to us. You should try to make amends with your Uncle and meet with him and your mother. 

Hamlet: Wait a second. My story was not done. I mean “heaven and earth[,Doc]! Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him, as if an increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on.” She loved him. It was as if Cupid had flown down from above and shot her with an arrow. 


Therapist: That is my point, Hamlet! You need to spend time with those who loved your Dad as much as you did.

Hamlet: She didn’t really love him, though. 

Therapist: Hamlet, you just contradicted everything you previously said about their relationship. 

Hamlet:  You would think that everything I said proves their love, right? “Yet, within a month.” {Hamlet scowls and whispers}”Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!”

Therapist: Hamlet, this is your mother we are talking about. I me-

Hamlet: {still scowling but talking with a normal tone} “A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she follow'd my poor father's body, like Niobe, all tears.” She cried enough tears to cause our wells to overfill! 

Therapist: See, Hamlet! She does care about your father. If she was crying that much over him, don’t you believe that they had something special? Something that was unique? True love?

Hamlet: {tear slowly slides down his right cheek}”Why she, even she”

Therapist: Hamlet, I’m here for you. 

Hamlet: {getting angrier} “O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle.” My own uncle! “My father's brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules.” I am upset my father died, Doc. I am even more upset that my stupid mother and disgusting Uncle. I mean, Doc,“within a month: ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her galled eyes, she married.” How can I forgive my mother for that? So back to what you were saying before about “true love” and “something special”, you tell me the last time you had a patient whose mother married her Uncle within a month of their father dying? Huh? Nothing. Yeah, that is what I expected. I’m sorry but this is not something you can help me with, Doc. 


Therapist: Hamlet, that’s where you’re wrong. I can help you. If my job was all about helping the same cases over and over again, I wouldn’t be a therapist. Dealing with unique situations is my job! This is just another that I can help a patient get through. Hamlet, I am so sorry that you are going through this. No one deserves to be put in the situation you are in. However Hamlet, you are no longer a child. You can talk to them. Tell them that you are angry about the current situation. 


Hamlet: It is disgusting! “O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is not nor it cannot come to good.” How many insest cases do you deal with, Doc? I’m assuming not many. I appreciate you trying to help, “but break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.” If I speak out, they will turn on me. Although I disagree with what she is doing, I still want her to be part of my life. 


Therapist: Hamlet, we will get through this together. No matter what we need to do. We will talk, cry, laugh, and most importantly, make you feel better. Hamlet, if this situation continues to get worse, we can go to the police. I see your point about moving on too quickly and I think if this situation escalates further, we may need to involve law enforcement. However, back to what you were saying about keeping quiet, that is the worst thing you can do. You must talk about it because if you keep all of your feelings bottled up, you will never feel better. Hamlet, I am here for you. We will get through this. 


Hamlet: Thank you, Doc! I appreciate that. 


Therapist: You’re welcome, Hamlet. I’ll see you next week. 



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