Observational Studies || Cephas & Dahlia
Dahlia listened attentively when Cephas finally began to talk. He’d been looking at her ponderously for a moment, and she couldn’t help but wonder what diagnoses he might already have thought of, simply in those few brief moments of rambling. Still, he didn’t seem to think she was forcing behavior, which was an excellent show of how she’d developed her ability to lie. As she’d told Niko his French was atrocious, he’d been sure to indicate that she was not very good at putting on a show. Still she watched keenly as Cephas got to work.
She arched an eyebrow at the thought of being encouraged to cry, and tried not to smile. Her head tipped and she regarded him, intrigued, when he mentioned being a devil’s advocate. A slow smile began to spread across her lips. He was sharp, and he was watching her as she watched him. As she opened her mouth to inquire further what that might entail, he continued with the first line she’d expected. Instead of pursuing the challenge, she settled in. There would be time.
"I cannot imagine I would have come if I am unwilling to allow you to do your job." She remarked, grinning easily. "Although," The smile vanished to be replaced with a thoughtfully furrowed brow, "I suppose people can be forced to therapy. But a baseline, clearly you need this, we can begin." She sat upright, hands folded in her lap, eyes bright with interest and fixed on him. She was on the edge of her seat, literally and figuratively, eager for the learning to begin.
"You'd be surprised. Many people resist the idea of not being in control, that they aren't masters of what's between their ears," Cephas replied. He wrote; seems eager for treatment. Motivated. Underlined that. The question remained, though, treatment of what? What was causing her verbal outbursts? He looked up at her and nodded in encouragement. If she were eager, this whole thing would go much more smoothly. "First, I'd like to hear about your family. Is there any history of mental illness or brain and nervous disorders in the family? And tell me about these verbal outbursts. When did they start happening?" He tilted his head and waited. A lot of someone's personality was wrapped up in how they presented their circumstances, not necessarily how things actually functioned. He waited, too, for one of the verbal outbursts to happen. How often did they occur?













