American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 186 Contrasting Female Doctor

Time soon came to the weekend, and it was time for the psychological treatment that Roy's parents had arranged for Emma.

Roy got up very early. Austin was several hours' drive from Falls Town, so he had to leave as early as possible.

But Emma's mood was not very good. She seemed to be resisting seeing a psychologist.

When the little girl woke up early in the morning, her face was particularly gloomy, and the words "I'm unhappy" were almost written on it.

Only at this moment could Roy feel that Emma was still a child, not a fake adult.

"Brother Roy, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable!"

"It's just right. I'm going to see the psychiatrist and I can check your stomach."

"Brother Roy, I seem to have forgotten to bring something!"

"It's okay. I can buy you a new one when we get to Austin."

……

Emma looked at Roy angrily, no longer able to pretend.

Roy glanced at the expression on Emma's face through the center rearview mirror, smiled, and shook his head.

If the little girl could be as normal as she is now, Roy wouldn't have to take her to see a psychiatrist.

A few hours later, Roy arrived at a clinic in downtown Austin and looked at the time. It was exactly ten o'clock.

Emma, ​​who had a normal expression but eyes full of resistance, walked into the clinic.

There was a young girl at the front desk of the clinic, and her eyes immediately started to light up when she saw Roy.

"Hello, I have an appointment with Claire Sheffield to bring my sister in for a consultation at ten o'clock."

However, the girl at the front desk was very infatuated and was only focused on looking at Roy's face, and didn't hear what he said at all.

There was no other way, Roy could only knock on the front desk before the other party came to his senses.

"Ah! Do you have an appointment to see the doctor? Let me check the schedule!"

The day before yesterday, the little girl hurriedly picked up a stack of forms and flipped through them in a panic.

"Well—the appointment is for Philip Blake this morning at ten o'clock. Is that you?"

"Philip Blake is my father. He can't come today, so he asked me to bring my sister over."

"Then I need to contact Mr. Philip Black to confirm. Please wait."

Roy stood in front of the front desk waiting boredly, while Emma sat in a chair with her head down, probably thinking about how to deal with the psychiatrist later.

But it’s not that easy to deal with psychologists, that’s their job.

Even if Emma is born with higher intelligence than ordinary children, it is impossible for her to know everything by birth.

"Okay, okay! Sir, I've confirmed it here, please follow me!"

The girl at the front desk enthusiastically took Roy and Emma into the office of psychologist Claire Sheffield and knocked on the door.

"Dr. Sheffield, I have a ten o'clock appointment."

"Okay, come in!"

Pushing open the door, there is a spacious office with a sofa and a recliner. It looks like both an office and a psychotherapy room.

There was a woman sitting at a desk looking at a notebook. When she looked up at Roy, both of them were stunned at the same time.

The woman was stunned because she didn't expect that the person she had made an appointment with would be a young and handsome boy. However, she quickly adjusted her expression and did not act like a fangirl like the girl at the front desk.

As for the reason why Roy was stunned, it was because this woman was actually Anne Hathaway!

Hiss! Has Anne Hathaway ever played a psychiatrist?
Roy couldn't think of it for a moment, maybe it was some less famous movie, even Anne Hathaway couldn't boost the box office.

"Hello, are you Dr. Claire Sheffield? You don't look like what I expected."

Roy took the initiative to say hello, his eyes constantly looking at Claire.

Feeling Roy's strange gaze, Claire thought that Roy was looking at her in a strange light because she was too young.

"Do you think I'm too young? Actually, I have a PhD in psychology. You can rest assured about my professional qualities."

Such a young PhD in psychology?

That’s really impressive!
Roy pulled Emma over to sit in the chair in front of the desk.

"My name is Roy Black. I'm here to bring my cousin on behalf of my father. You should know about her situation, right?"

Claire nodded, observing Emma while she spoke to Roy.

"Yes, I spoke with Mr. Black on the phone and have some understanding of little Emma's situation. However, psychological matters still need to be evaluated up close."

"Then when do we start?"

"Right now! Mr. Black, please go out first. I want to be alone with little Emma."

"no problem."

Roy stood up to leave, but Emma grabbed his hand.

Emma looked at Roy with pleading eyes, but Roy just smiled.

"Answer the doctor's questions obediently. It will be good for you, okay?"

With that, Roy walked out of the office, leaving Claire and Emma alone.

After Roy left, Emma returned to her impeccable and perfect demeanor, giving people a feeling of being kept at a distance.

As a PhD in psychology, Claire was able to judge that Emma was resistant to the psychological assessor, which was very unfavorable for the psychologist.

However, as an expert in child psychology, Claire has encountered many difficult children and has gained experience.

Giving Emma a friendly smile, Claire picked up a candy and handed it to her.

"Emma, ​​would you like some candy?"

The tricks that worked so well for other kids hit a snag with Emma.

Emma didn't hesitate and rejected Claire with a slight smile.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Sheffield, but I'm losing my teeth and can't have sweets."

The smile on Claire's face did not change. This action just now was both to ease Emma's resistance and to test her.

Through this test, Claire realized that Emma was very difficult to deal with, and it would probably be difficult to make money today.

"Then let's go chat somewhere else! Come, follow me to the sofa."

A comfortable environment can help people let go of their resistance, so psychotherapy is usually conducted in a family-like environment.

But Emma sat on the sofa with her body tense all the time, which made Claire feel very strange.

If an adult had this kind of reaction, it would be understandable. After all, adults are more cautious. But Emma is only eight years old, and yet she is so defensive...

Claire's eyes flickered.

They waited outside the office for an hour, during which time Roy teased the bar girl so much that her eyes were full of love.

Roy had no doubt that even if he asked the girl to go to the bathroom for a friendly game, she would not refuse, even if this choice might cause her to lose her job.

When Claire came out, she saw her employees laughing so hard that they were shaking with laughter, which made her have a bad impression of Roy.

"Mr. Black, can we talk alone? About little Emma's problem."

"Of course no problem." Claire took Roy back to the office, and this time it was Emma's turn to wait outside.

"Mr. Black, little Emma's condition is a little serious."

It was clear from Claire's serious expression that the matter was indeed serious, and Roy's smile disappeared.

"How serious is it?"

"After an hour of testing, I found that little Emma has histrionic personality disorder."

Claire then explained what histrionic personality is.

Histrionic personality disorder refers to a personality trait characterized by exaggerated emotions, dramatic behavior, self-centeredness, and a desire for constant attention.

This kind of personality is actually not uncommon in modern society, especially on certain short video platforms.

But Roy felt that Emma's mood swings were not that exaggerated.

Roy asked a question and Claire answered him.

"Exaggerated emotions are just the outward manifestation of histrionic personality. In reality, the core element of this personality type is an extreme desire for attention. So, acting crazy and foolish is a sign of histrionic personality, and pretending to be a good kid is also a sign of histrionic personality."

So that’s it!
"So what's the big problem with this histrionic personality?"

"There's nothing wrong with histrionic personality itself. At most, it will cause Emma a lot of psychological pressure. But I also discovered that Emma has an antisocial personality."

The prominent feature of people with this personality is that their behavior tends to deviate from social norms, and they feel no guilt after harming society and others. They cannot learn lessons from setbacks and punishments, but instead retaliate against society in an even more severe way.

Simply put, it is a lack of empathy, an inability to sympathize with others, and an inability to empathize with others.

This kind of personality is quite dangerous. Basically, people with antisocial personality will eventually become criminals, and people who have both histrionic personality and antisocial personality are even more dangerous.

Roy looked at Claire. This comment was quite serious.

"Doctor Sheffield, are you sure?"

"I also hope that my judgment is wrong, or you can find another psychologist to conduct a psychological evaluation on Emma."

Roy scratched his head. He still believed in Claire's judgment.

"Can Emma's personality be corrected?"

"Mr. Black, you're very lucky that Emma's condition was discovered early. An eight-year-old's worldview is far from being formed, so it's possible to correct it. If she were an adult, it would be more difficult to change."

"Okay, how much does the correctional treatment cost?"

Claire took out a piece of paper and began to write and draw.

"Based on my experience, Emma's condition requires at least 12 sessions of treatment to be effective, once a week, which is three months. However, three months may not necessarily completely change Emma. Personality correction is a long process, especially since Emma has shown great resistance to psychiatrists. Mr. Black, you need to be mentally prepared."

Roy nodded.

"I'll discuss this with my parents. Dr. Sheffield, could you please leave your contact information so I can consult you if I have any questions in the future?"

"of course can!"

Claire pulled a business card from the drawer and handed it to Roy.

"By the way, Mr. Black, why do I feel that you look familiar? Have we met before?"

Claire winked at Roy.

Roy was sure that he had never met Claire, so there was only one possibility why Claire felt he looked familiar.

"Actually, I'm a school boxer. If you think I look familiar, you've probably seen me on TV or in the newspaper."

Claire looked very surprised.

"I remember now, I did see you on a replayed boxing match!"

Roy didn't expect that the video of the Cowboy Cup Final three months ago would have such a great influence.

Or is it that Claire, a female PhD in psychology who looks quiet and gentle, actually likes watching boxing?

"Do you like watching boxing matches?"

Claire felt a little embarrassed.

"When I'm stressed out, I do watch some fighting games to help me relax."

Roy looked at Claire and guessed that she might not only be watching fighting matches because she was under a lot of pressure, but she was probably also a fighting fan.

After all, if you are not a fighting fan, you will rarely go to watch an amateur boxing match at the school level.

This creates quite a big contrast!

"Would you like me to sign an autograph for you?"

Claire actually showed an expression of excitement and joy, completely lacking the intellectual maturity she had just shown. She looked more like a little girl chasing a star.

"May I?"

"No problem at all!"

Claire immediately took out a notebook from the drawer and handed it to Roy. When he opened it, he could see a lot of signatures inside.

Mike Tyson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Roy Jones Jr., they are either boxers or WWE players, they are indeed fighting fans.

Roy quickly wrote a line of words.

Presented by future world boxing champion Roy Black to Claire Sheffield.

Claire was very happy to take back the notebook.

"Mr. Black, I've seen your matches. You can definitely become the world boxing champion!"

"I hope so too."

After the little episode, Roy said goodbye to Claire and left with Emma.

"Brother Roy, are we going home now?"

"No, I came to Austin for other things today. Let's go get lunch first, and then we'll do our business."

Roy found a taco shop in the city. Taco is a Mexican burrito, but it is not the pre-made fast food burrito like the ones at Kenji. The taste of that one is really average.

Authentic Mexican burritos are just like pancakes. You can add your own ingredients according to your preferences, and the content is very rich.

The sauce inside was very unique and tasted pretty good. Roy finished ten burritos by himself, leaving Emma stunned.

After eating the burrito, Emma's mood finally recovered a little.

Next, Roy is at the dock taking Emma to Austin.

The city of Austin is run through by the Colorado River, which provides the city with abundant water resources and convenient shipping.

There are a large number of warehouse rental companies near the Colorado River freight terminal, and this is where Wade bet on the warehouse.

"Boss, you're finally here! Why are you still bringing this little girl?"

Wade arrived in the morning and has been waiting for Roy until now.

Roy got out of the car and fist-bumped Wade.

"I brought her to Austin for something, and I wanted to check on you. Emma, ​​do you want to come with me? If you don't want to come, just stay in the car and wait for me."

It would be boring to stay in the car and wait, so Emma naturally chose to get off with Roy.

"Wade, lead the way."

Claire Sheffield (Anne Hathaway, from The Passenger)
(End of this chapter)