A therapist, Casey Calvert, is waiting in her office for her next client, Jean Hollywood. When Jean arrives, Casey asks them how things have been since the previous therapy session. Jean says that things have been going well: they’ve been a bit busy, but not too stressed out. After the pleasantries, the conversation then moves on to a topic the two of them have been discussing during the past few sessions: Jean’s sexuality. Jean admits that they haven’t had any major breakthroughs yet in terms of figuring that out. It’s all been rather confusing, and also frustrating, because people keep wanting to put labels on them. Jean feels as if everyone just wants to put them into a box, instead of actually getting to know them as a person.
Jean says that they’ve been struggling with their gender identity as well. Once again, everyone just wants to put a simple label on them, but none of those terms seem to exactly fit. They used to describe themself as trans, but then they realized that didn’t seem to suit who they are. Other terms such as genderfluid, gender non-conforming, and non-binary didn’t seem to fit either. It feels like they’ve been trying so many different labels, and none of them work. There are no easy answers, but maybe that’s the whole point… a human being is more complicated than just a label or a bunch of tags, so why would Jean even WANT to find a simple label for themself?
As Jean speaks, Casey is sympathetic and caring. She patiently listens to everything they have to say, and asks them questions to help them open up about their feelings even more. Eventually, Jean expresses their appreciation for how genuinely caring Casey is, and that they admire Casey’s confidence as well. In fact, Jean admits that the one easy answer they DO have about themself is that they have feelings for her. Casey hesitates for a moment, then gently says this is something that often happens in therapy, when a client talks so much about intimate topics that they end up redirecting those intimate feelings towards their therapist. It’s called ‘transference’. But Jean says that’s just another label, and what they’re feeling for Casey is real.
It seems that Casey has been secretly harboring similar feelings after all, because she says that if the two of them were to act on these feelings, it would change things. Jean points out that she said during a previous session that change can be a positive thing. Casey admits that’s a good point, and the two of them move closer together…
