Therapy With Dr. Evelyn

Alex leaned forward slightly on the couch, his hands clasped tightly between his knees. He stared at the coffee table, his voice quiet but strained as he began.

"I don't… know exactly what's wrong with me," he said, rubbing his thumb over the back of his hand. "But… lately, I've been feeling like… I'm not alone in here." He tapped his temple with two fingers, his jaw tightening. "Like, there's someone else—or maybe more than one someone—inside my head."

Evelyn didn't react visibly, though her pen hovered over her notebook. She simply nodded, her posture relaxed. "Go on."

Alex took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping. "At first, I thought it was stress. You know, long hours at work, crappy sleep. I'd lose time here and there—just a couple of minutes, maybe an hour tops. Nothing crazy. But then…" He trailed off, his hands flexing in and out of fists.

"Then?" Evelyn prompted gently, keeping her voice steady.

"Then it got worse," Alex said, his voice cracking slightly. "Like… one day, I woke up in my apartment, and the kitchen was just wrecked. Burn marks on the counters, melted handles on the drawers. My smoke detector was ripped off the ceiling and smashed in the sink."

Evelyn raised a brow slightly but didn't interrupt, her expression calm and neutral.

"I don't remember doing it," Alex continued, shaking his head. "But… I felt something. Like this heat. In my chest, my hands. It was… like fire. Like I could make it happen if I wanted to. And the thing is… I'm not the one who did that to my kitchen. It wasn't me." He looked up at her, his dark eyes clouded with confusion and frustration.

Evelyn met his gaze, her pen tapping lightly against her notebook. "You're saying… someone else did it?"

"Yeah," Alex said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Someone else. A part of me, but not me. Like another person. I think… I think I've got these… personalities, or whatever you'd call them. And one of them can do this… fire thing."

Evelyn nodded slowly, keeping her face unreadable as she jotted something down. "How many personalities have surfaced, as far as you know?"

Alex's lips pressed into a thin line, and he exhaled heavily, leaning back against the couch. "Two," he said, holding up two fingers. "One's the fire guy, like I said. The other one…" He paused, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "The other one's a bit of a wildcard."

Evelyn's brow furrowed slightly, but she didn't press. "Wildcard how?"

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away as though embarrassed. "Well… one night, I lost time. I remember sitting on my couch, trying to relax after work. The next thing I know, it's morning, and I'm waking up in bed with two… uh… women." His cheeks flushed, and he avoided Evelyn's gaze. "Apparently, I went to a club, got hammered, and… yeah. Let's just say it's not something I'd ever do, drunk or sober."

Evelyn's lips twitched into the faintest hint of a smile, though she quickly masked it. "I see," she said, her tone even. "And you're sure it wasn't just… you, acting differently under stress or alcohol?"

Alex shook his head firmly. "No. That wasn't me. I don't even like clubs, let alone have the confidence to pull off something like that. This guy… he's different. He's smooth, confident. I can barely talk to one woman, let alone two. And it wasn't just that. He left notes for himself—stuff I don't even recognize as my handwriting."

Evelyn nodded again, her pen moving briskly over the page. She paused, glancing up at him. "How long has this been going on?"

Alex frowned, his gaze distant as he thought. "A couple of months, maybe? It started small, like I said. Little gaps in time. But now…" He trailed off, his hands clenching into fists. "Now it's like they're getting stronger. Like I'm losing control."

Evelyn set her notebook down on her lap, her hands clasping over it. Her expression was thoughtful, but she spoke calmly. "You mentioned fire and confidence, two very different things. Does it feel like these personalities have… specific traits or roles?"

Alex blinked, the question catching him off guard. "I guess? Yeah. One's all about destruction, and the other… well, he's more about fun. But both of them… they're better than me. In their own ways. And that's… part of the problem, I think."

Evelyn tilted her head, studying him. "Better how?"

Alex let out a bitter laugh, running a hand through his hair. "They're not stuck like I am. They don't feel trapped or useless. One burns everything down, and the other lives like nothing matters. Meanwhile, I'm just… here. Barely holding it together."

Evelyn leaned forward slightly, her gaze steady. "And what do you want, Alex? From them, from yourself, from this?"

Alex hesitated, his jaw tightening as he looked at her. His voice was low and filled with uncertainty when he finally spoke.

"I just want to feel like I'm not falling apart."

Evelyn studied Alex for a moment, her pen resting idly against the edge of her notebook. She let the silence stretch, giving him space to sit with his thoughts. The tension in the room seemed to pulse softly, like a heartbeat.

When she finally spoke, her tone was measured, calm. "Falling apart... that's a heavy thing to feel. Do you think these other parts of you—these personalities—are helping you hold it together in some way, or are they making it worse?"

Alex exhaled sharply, leaning back into the couch. His hands dragged down his face, and when he looked at her again, his dark eyes were shadowed with exhaustion. "Both," he admitted. "They're… handling things I can't, I guess. The fire guy? He's all rage and chaos, but maybe that's because I'm trying so damn hard to keep it all in. And the other one?" He smirked bitterly. "He's just living it up. Taking risks, doing things I'd never do."

Evelyn nodded slightly, jotting down a few notes without breaking eye contact. "It sounds like they're expressing parts of you that don't get a voice otherwise. But at the same time, you're not in control when they show up. That's got to be unsettling."

"Unsettling?" Alex let out a dry laugh. "Try terrifying. One of them's setting stuff on fire, and the other's… well, doing whatever he wants. Meanwhile, I'm just the guy cleaning up after them, trying to make sure I don't end up in jail—or worse."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair, her gaze thoughtful. "Have you ever tried talking to them?"

Alex blinked, caught off guard. "Talking to them? You mean… like, having a conversation?"

"Exactly," Evelyn said, her tone even. "They're parts of you, Alex. They're not strangers, even if they feel that way. If they're surfacing to handle things you can't, maybe understanding them could help you figure out why they're here and what they need."

Alex's brow furrowed, skepticism clear on his face. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that? They don't exactly show up when I ask."

Evelyn nodded, her expression still calm. "That's true. But there are ways to encourage communication. Journaling, for example. Or even just paying attention to the moments when you feel them starting to surface. What triggers them? What emotions or situations bring them forward?"

Alex rubbed the back of his neck, his jaw tightening. "I don't know. It's not like there's a pattern or anything. It just… happens. And by the time I realize it, I'm already out of the picture."

Evelyn tapped her pen lightly against her notebook, considering his words. "Maybe there's more going on than you're aware of. Sometimes, our subconscious picks up on things we don't consciously notice. If you start keeping track—writing down what's happening before and after those gaps—it might help you spot a connection."

Alex nodded slowly, though his expression was still doubtful. "I guess it's worth a shot. It's not like I've got any better ideas."

Evelyn offered him a small, encouraging smile. "It's a start. And we can work on it together. The goal isn't to get rid of these parts of you, Alex. It's to understand them, so you can start to take back some control."

Alex let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing slightly. For the first time, a faint glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. "Okay," he said quietly. "Let's try it."

Evelyn leaned forward, her green eyes steady and reassuring. "We will. One step at a time."

For the rest of the session, the two of them worked out a plan—small steps toward understanding the pieces of Alex's fractured mind. And as they spoke, the weight on his shoulders seemed to lift, just a little. It wasn't much, but it was something.