Miss Fine invited Jon to sit. "I'm told you like video games," she said, working with what looked like a tablet computer. "Tell me about your favorite game."
He began to talk about Wizards of Kimpton, a game he'd been playing a lot of. He could discuss it in detail. The game had a rich mythology and required lots of practice to play. Many teens spent a few hours a week with it. Jon wasn't one of the ones who did it to excess though. He had a life outside gaming.
"Well, I just happen to have a copy here. Would you mind playing it for me?" She asked.
"Umm...why?"
"I'm learning about you," she said, using her stylus to seemingly take notes. "To tailor your treatment."
She watched, taking notes as Jon played the game. The more Jon played, however, the harder the game seemed to get for him. He finally put the controller down, tired of it.
"I'd like to bring your mother in for a group session, would that be all right?" Miss Fine asked.
"Okay," Jon commented, puzzled by what was going on.
Linda Madison was brought into the room. She was dressed, like Jon, in a hospital gown. She moved to embrace him. "I was worried about you," she said.
"Were you worried about her?" Miss Fine asked him.
"Umm...well, no," he admitted. He hadn't really had time to worry about her. He'd been thinking about himself.
"We'll be discussing that as well," the facilitator replied. "A sign of maturity is thinking of the feelings of others."
What neither Jon nor Linda knew was that Miss Fine was manipulating their feelings using the tablet in her hands. That the entire suite the two were staying in was designed to alter their behavior in a most effective way.
