Therapist's notes: the New York Times company mental health clinic.(the long view)

First Session:

The clients gathered for the first time today for our surge-related-depression clinic. Forgot to order extra chairs, so for the first few moments several of the clients were forced to stand "Gitmo style," as one of them complained. When asked to elaborate, client simply lashed out and accused therapist of "forgetting" and "sweeping under the rug" the unconstitutional actions of the Bush administration. The arrival of more chairs seemed to help matters, but there was still a general sense among the clients that it was too little, too late. Even as they took their seats, there was a lot of grumbling about the "chair surge" not really solving the problem. They complained that the therapist had misled them into believing that there would be enough chairs to begin with, that the therapist had lied to them, that the therapist had poorly planned the first session. When asked to describe how they were feeling, several of the clients simply sobbed quietly. The session ended in silence.

Second Session:

The clients gathered today in a deep state of gloom and paranoia. The news from Iraq seems grimmer and grimmer. Attempts to reconnect clients with the more positive side of things--a faltering economy, the potential for worldwide economic depression, the lack of national health insurance--fail to make inroads. Clients seem stuck in a negative pattern of cognition: Issues of self-worth and self-empowerment are enmeshed with the events in Iraq. A few are cheered by reports that recent Iraq War veterans seem to be disproportionately represented among violent criminals, but others may require medication.

Third Session:

The therapist began the session by announcing some good news. Wire services were reporting that a car bomb was said to have exploded in an area of Baghdad, killing dozens of bystanders. The session then began on a cheerful note, with many of the clients expressing cautious optimism that their surge-related depression was lifting. Many of them smiled for the first time during therapy, and a general sense of joviality and laughter pervaded. "You see?" one of them said. "The surge is a failure!"

Therapist then asked them all to share some good news of their own. Several contributed stories of their children's successes at various private schools in the Manhattan area. Others talked happily about the previous week's episode of HBO's The Wire. Still others ...