The Girl He Had To Marry- An Arranged Marriage Story

Chapter Seventeen: First Session

Penelope gentle lowered herself onto the soft, plush, and olive green chair. Across from her was a dark cherry wood desk and a woman older her with blue eyes and dark brown hair. Penny's knee bounced uncontrollably, similarly to Aubrey brother. He was truly the reason she sat behind the fancy desk. Her office wasn't that big, but it didn't need to be. It had one big window and a small side room that doubled as a bathroom and a small kitchen. Aubrey honestly didn't care about that fact because no one else used this office. The whole floor is actually rented out to psychologists, therapists, counselors, and psychiatrists so she wasn't out of place. 

"I am really happy that you came!" Aubrey addressed Penny. She was completely unsure if Penny would actually show, or if she scared the young girl off. Her next words actually might. 

Aubrey continued, "Tell me how you are feeling. What did you do for the rest of the week?"

Penny at first shrugged her shoulders and said "Nothing much."

"Come on Penny. there must have been something that you did. Did you lay in bed all day and night or did you do something, like watch a movie at least."

"Yeah, I watched a movie. I kind of had a movie day outside of my bed. Yesterday I went to this cafe and it started to snow. It made me really happy."

"That is fantastic!" Aubrey encouraged. "It is important for you right now is to find little acts of self care or things that make you happy. I would like to get serious now. Based on my observations, you showed traits of depression: feeling down, isolating yourself, lack of motivation, lack of energy, and having a disturbed sleep schedule. I can not diagnosis you with depression because I do not know how long you have been feeling like this. I want to know what trigged your feelings and help you work through it all." 

Penny tried to be shocked at her words. A small part of her wanted to believe that she had a strong mental state despite everything. However, she knew her teenage years have ruined her mental health. 

"You don't look too shocked at that news?" Aubrey observed. "Can you tell me more about how you are feeling."

"You are right," Penny revealed. "I'm honestly not that shocked by that news. Let's say that I didn't have the easiest upbringing and I prefer not to talk about it." 

"That is completely okay if you do not trust me with that information yet. I don't expect you too. Do you trust me enough to talk about what trigger what you are experience now? Or have what you been feeling continuous and before you moved to New York?" 

"Umm," Penny was obviously hesitant. She has never talked about herself in this manner. She never discussed her emotions before. This was new territory. "I was doing okay moving here and getting settled. Everything just became overwhelming very quickly. Quentin would yell and get angry at me. I kept on getting rejection after rejection from auditions. I felt very isolated since the only one I saw was Ms. Birdie. It just became easier to shut down and stay hold up in my room." 

Aubrey wrote down some notes and triggers to help in the future. "Everything that caused this depressive episode is completely reasonable. You father passed away, you had to move to New York the same week, you got married, and then tried to reenter the workforce in one of the most competitive fields. What I want you to do is get a journal and write what you did that day, how tired you are at the end of the day, and then your feelings on that day. It seems like to me that you are having a hard time recognizing when you become overwhelmed. That it is easier to work until you drop." Penny looked down at that comment. Her therapist was right. "I don't want something to trigger these episode again, like be overwhelmed. Keeping a journal can help get in touch with her emotions again."