Transcript of 69th Session between Charles Balis, M.D., Ms. Anna Green, and Mr. Martin Fleck, Thursday, February 12, 1998 at 4:00 pm.

Ms. Green: Hello, Doctor. This is Martin. I hope you don't mind. I just thought it would be a good idea if we all talked together, okay?
Mr. Fleck: Hello, Doctor Balis. It's a pleasure to meet you in person.
Dr. Balis: Hello, Mister Fleck. Anna.
Mr. Fleck: Please call me Martin.
Dr. Balis: Sure. Please come in and sit down. I would have preferred that you let me know about this ahead of time.
Ms. Green: Since Martin works for SII, I thought that he would be covered by the insurance and...
Dr. Balis: It's not that. But let's get started. Why did you want to bring Martin here?
Ms. Green: I thought it was about time you two met.
Dr. Balis: Hmm.
Ms. Green: And we're at a very critical point in our relationship. We have to figure out how to handle the Kathy situation without having it explode in our faces.
Dr. Balis: What do you mean by "handling?"
Ms. Green: I think...we think that Kathy is extremely unstable now. I mean psychologically unstable. And while the situation at home is getting increasingly unbearable for Martin and I, we're afraid to do something about it because it might harm the baby. So we need your advice on how to proceed.
Dr. Balis: What would you like to do about Kathy, Martin?
Mr. Fleck: Kathy is the mother of my child, Doctor Balis.
Dr. Balis: I know.
Mr. Fleck: Well, what more can I say?
Ms. Green: You can say that your life has been a living hell for the last few months.
Mr. Fleck: I...
Ms. Green: You don't have to worry about what you say here, Martin. Kathy will never know-- we can have an honest conversation with Doctor Balis. It's okay. Really.
Dr. Balis: Are you uncomfortable talking about Kathy, Martin?
Mr. Fleck: Well...
Ms. Green: Doctor Balis will never discuss anything that we will say here with anyone. Martin, you can really trust him. And I told him about everything that has been going on, so you don't have to talk about those painful things. We can just concentrate on what we should do now.
Dr. Balis: Hmm. What would you like to do now, Anna?
Ms. Green: You know, Doctor. I want my life back. I want Martin's life back. I want to find a way to get through this. I've been telling Martin that if we let this go on like this, at some point, he won't be able to get away. If this doesn't stop, his life will be dedicated to serving Kathy and her child. He has so much potential. So many great things could happen. But it all could just...all the options...everything good could just go away from his life. At first, I thought we could wait until the baby is born and try to get custody. But it's clear to me now that we simply can't wait. Kathy is getting her tentacles deeper and deeper into Martin, and while I know I would be able to walk away from her at any time, Martin is just not strong enough. I'm not saying you're weak, Martin. I just know that your sense of responsibility, your noble nature will keep you from acting in your own best interests. So we can't wait. We have to do something now. That's why we're here, Doctor. I thought you might have a solution for how to deal with Kathy. After all, she's completely out of her mind, and that's your specialty.
Dr. Balis: Martin?
Mr. Fleck: Kathy is carrying my baby. It might not be how I wanted things to work out. But I can't wish for the baby to die...
Ms. Green: That's not what I'm talking about, Martin, and you know it.
Mr. Fleck: I'm the father. I have responsibilities to my child. There's nothing that changes that.
Ms. Green: You have responsibility to yourself as well. Do you think that by being unhappy for the rest of your life, by sacrificing everything you would manage to make your child's life happy? I don't think so. Doctor Balis, how many cases do you know of happy kids with miserable parents? I'll tell you--there isn't any such thing. If you're unhappy, your baby will be unhappy, too.
Mr. Fleck: I...
Ms. Green: You do have responsibilities toward your child. And one of them is for you, the father, to be happy.
Mr. Fleck: I...
Ms. Green: Martin...
Dr. Balis: Anna, you have to give Martin an opportunity to talk as well. I know how you feel. I would like to find out what Martin's feelings are. Okay?
Ms. Green: Of course, Doctor. I was just helping.
Dr. Balis: So do you know what you want, Martin?
Mr. Fleck: I guess I want for everybody to be happy. I hate seeing Anna hurt. She has been so strong and so understanding.
Ms. Green: I'm glad you noticed.
Mr. Fleck: I have. I know it's been very hard on you. But I don't know if there are any options for us.
Dr. Balis: What do you mean?
Mr. Fleck: I don't believe I can get custody away from Kathy. It's just not the way our court system works. And I'm not willing to drag Kathy's name through the mud, she doesn't deserve that. And, ultimately, it would probably backfire, anyway. The society is just not that understanding toward individuals with alternative life styles, especially those who engage in S&M sex practices. It would be horrible if my child ended up in foster care as a result. So I don't know what options I'm left with.
Ms. Green: There are always options, Martin. Right, Doctor?
Dr. Balis: There are always options, but it doesn't mean that they are acceptable.
Mr. Fleck: Precisely. Perhaps if we stay together long enough, Kathy would move-on by herself.
Ms. Green: Yeah, right.
Mr. Fleck: I want to be with you, Anna. I don't want to lose you. But I understand if you can't wait for me.
Ms. Green: Oh, Martin, you're talking about sacrificing your life.
Mr. Fleck: Things happen, Anna. It just might work out. I just have to wait. But you don't have to wait.
Ms. Green: Martin...
Mr. Fleck: You don't, Anna. I know how unhappy you are. It would make my life even worse to know that I'm making you miserable.
Ms. Green: You're not making me miserable. It's Kathy. It's all her fault. I wish I'd seen it sooner. Everything she's done up to now has been carefully calculated and...she's so horrible. She's going to destroy your life and the baby's, too. Don't you see? You have to find a way to take the baby away from her.
Dr. Balis: Anna...
Ms. Green: No, Doctor. You don't understand. Martin can't be around all the time. There will be plenty of opportunities for her to harm the baby. And she'll do it too, if she thinks she can gain something by that.
Mr. Fleck: I don't think she'll really do it. A mother doesn't harm her own baby.
Ms. Green: Oh, yeah. Tell him, Doctor. I'm sure you know of plenty of cases of child abuse where the mother did it. Tell him.
Mr. Fleck: I'll make sure she won't harm the baby.
Ms. Green: How, Martin? How? You can't be around all the time.
Mr. Fleck: I can...
Ms. Green: What can you do?
Mr. Fleck: My parents...
Ms. Green: What about your parents? Do you want to move in with them? Do you want to give up your job? What about sex, Martin? Are you going to give all of that up? Do you think Kathy will? Do you think she'll be happy living like that? You try to keep her under surveillance day and night, and she might just notice it. And then she'll just take the baby, and you'll never see it again. She'll be free to harm or...
Mr. Fleck: Please stop it! What do you want me to do, Anna? Abandon my child now?
Ms. Green: No, of course not. I just want you to think about all this. Staying with Kathy is just not a solution. I know that you know it, too. So we have to figure out a way of solving our problem. I'm here for you. I want you to be happy. And Doctor Balis can help us. Tell him, Doctor.
Dr. Balis: I'm not an attorney, but I think Martin is right about custody. If you bring up Kathy's S&M habits as a way of proving her to be an unfit mother, your sexual practices will be scruitinized as well.
Mr. Fleck: I think so, too.
Ms. Green: So perhaps that's not a solution. But there must be an answer.
Dr. Balis: I'm not going to ask you to answer my question with a detailed plan, Martin. But do you know what you want to do?
Mr. Fleck: I was hoping to wait and see how things are going to turn out. I don't feel like I have much choice at the moment. But I understand that I can't ask Anna to do the same. So she's free to do what she think she needs to do.
Ms. Green: Yeah, like I'm too stupid to understand that if I leave, Kathy will never let go of you?
Mr. Fleck: I don't want you to be unhappy because of me.
Ms. Green: And leaving you would make me happy?
Mr. Fleck: No, but...
Ms. Green: And it's my place, so she has to go.
Mr. Fleck: But...
Ms. Green: If you want to set her up with an apartment somewhere, go ahead--let her take you for a ride. No wonder she quit her job; she knows that you'll take care of her now.
Dr. Balis: Kathy quit her job at the store?
Ms. Green: Yeah, isn't that charming? After all those hours Martin put in for her so she wouldn't lose it, she just went ahead and quit--she's just not feeling well enough to handle a job.
Mr. Fleck: She is quite sick, Anna.
Ms. Green: She is a great actress.
Dr. Balis: Do you believe she's faking her symptoms?
Ms. Green: She's fourteen weeks now. Most pregnancy symptoms disappear after twelve. You go figure.
Dr. Balis: Actually a lot of pregnant women suffer all through pregnancy. So don't dismiss Kathy's symptoms solely based on that twelve week estimate.
Ms. Green: Hmm.
Dr. Balis: Anna...
Ms. Green: I'm beginning to feel like you're not on my side here, Doctor.
Dr. Balis: I'm completely on your side, Anna. And being honest with you is part of it. You don't want me to lie to make you feel better, do you?
Ms. Green: I just want some support. At home...god, you can just imagine how my life at home is right now. And at work, everyone is hating Martin. There's no place for me to get any support. I want to feel happy when I'm with Martin. Maybe not all the time, but...
Mr. Fleck: I'm so sorry, Anna. I never wanted you to get hurt. If I'd only known...
Ms. Green: Oh, just...I'm leaving. Bye.
Dr. Balis: Anna, I think we should talk...
Mr. Fleck: She's been very unhappy lately, Doctor. Don't worry--I'll catch up with her on the street, and we'll have a nice evening together. I promise.
Dr. Balis: It's not...
Mr. Fleck: It was a pleasure to meet you, Doctor. Thank you for helping Anna through this very difficult time. I really appreciate it. I better run, or I won't be able to catch her. Goodbye, Doctor Balis.
Dr. Balis: Goodbye.
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