The Comfort of Fake News

The following vignette attempts to illustrate how the culture of fake news seemed to have invaded the sanctity of the therapeutic setting. One may argue that the underlying motivations for this invasion are multi-determined. No single interpretation could embrace what at first glance may be viewed as an acting out or an enactment. The case of E highlights the indestructibility of wishes underlying fake news, coupled with the permeability of the therapeutic frame.

A regular morning at the office during pre-pandemic times. My 10:00 a.m. patient just left the waiting room. I have a brief break before my next appointment, which is with E—a businesswoman who began treatment over a month ago. It crosses my mind that E has remained ambivalent about committing herself to her treatment. During the last session, she expressed skepticism about increasing the frequency as discussed on a previous occasion.

Closer to 11:00 a.m., I pour myself a glass of water, anticipating the impending loud buzzer from the front door. I sit. My cellular phone's exact clock indicates it is already 11:10. “She is not coming. I knew it,” I mumbled. “Acting out already.” I engaged in an internal debate on how to proceed should she fail to notify me of her reasons for not making it to the session.

As happens with every new patient, a veil of anxiety colors my reflections. Writing a few notes seems to ease the wait. At 11:20 the bell rings. I feel somewhat relieved by her arrival. Shortly after the second buzzer, the door to the waiting room opens. Aware that the session will now be twenty minutes short, I move to invite E into the consulting room. To my surprise, upon opening the door, I am confronted with an unfamiliar face. A perfect stranger is standing next to the magazine rack. Confused and mildly disoriented, I take a few minutes to recover. Who is this woman? Have I mistakenly scheduled a new patient during E's time? Am I so much the prisoner of negative countertransference to