«You believe this?» Without waiting for him to respond,

Rebecca continued, «Well, I don`t. He`s not speaking for

me. I`d like to check it out. Could we get a vote here?»

«I`d choose to live again. Life`s a bitch, but it`s a

kick too,” said Tony. A chorus of «me too» spread around

the group. «I hesitate for one reason,” explained Julius.

«The idea of once again bearing the pain of my wife`s

death; but, even so, I`d say yes. I love being alive.» Only

Philip held silent.

«Sorry,” he said, «but I agree with Schopenhauer.

Life is suffering from start to finish. It would have been

better if life, all life, had never been.»

«Better not have beenfor whom ?» asked Pam. «For

Schopenhauer, you mean? Apparently not for the folks in

this room.»

«Schopenhauer is hardly alone in his position.

Consider the millions of Buddhists. Remember that the first

of the Buddha`s four noble truths is that life is suffering.»

«Is that a serious answer, Philip? What`s happened to

you? When I was a student you lectured brilliantly on

modes of philosophical argument. What kind of argument

is this? Truth by proclamation? Truth by appeal to

authority? That`s the way of religion, and yet surely you

follow Schopenhauer in his atheism. And has it occurred to

you that Schopenhauer was chronically depressed and that

the Buddha lived in a place and at a time when human

suffering—pestilence, starvation—was rampant and that,

indeed, life then was unmitigated suffering for most? Has it

occurred—”

«What kind of philosophic argument isthat ?»

retorted Philip. «Every half–way literate sophomore student

knows the difference between genesis and validity.»

«Wait, wait,” interjected Julius. «Let`s pause for a

minute and check in.» He scanned the group. «How are the

rest of you guys feeling about the last few minutes?»

«Good stuff,” said Tony. «They were really duking it

out. But with padded gloves.»

«Right, better than silent glares and hidden daggers,”

said Gill.

«Yeah, I liked it a lot better,” agreed Bonnie. «Sparks

were flying between Pam and Philip but cooler sparks.»

«Me, too,” said Stuart, «until the last couple of

minutes.»

«Stuart,” said Julius, «in your first meeting here you

said your wife accused you of talking in telegrams.»

«Yep, you`re stingy today. A few more words won`t

cost you any more,” said Bonnie.

«Right. Maybe I`m regressing because...you know,

this being the next–to–last meeting. Can`t be sure—I don`t

feel sad; as usual I have to infer my feelings. Here`s

something I do know, Julius. I love your taking care of me,

calling on me, staying on my case. How`s that?»

«That`s great, and I`ll keep doing it. You said you

liked Pam and Philip talking ‘until the last couple of

minutes.` So, what about those last minutes?»

«At first it felt good–natured—more like a family

squabble. But that last comment by Philip—that had a nasty

edge to it. I mean the comment starting with» Every

halfway literate sophomore student. «I didn`t like that,

Philip. It was a put–down. If you said that to me, I`d have

felt insulted. And threatened—I`m not even sure what

philosophical arguement means.»

«I agree with Stuart, «said Rebecca. «Tell me, Philip,

whatwere you feeling? Did you want to insult Pam?»

«Insult her? No, not at all. That was the last thing I

wanted to do,” responded Philip. «I

felt...uh...upliftedorreleased —not sure of the right

word—by her saying the iron was no longer red–hot. Let`s

see, what else? I knew that one of her motives in bringing

in the quote by Epictetus was to trap and confound me.

That was obvious. But I kept in mind what Julius said to

me when I brought in that fable for him—that he was

pleased by the effort and the caring behind the act.»

«So,” said Tony, «let me pull a Julius. Here`s what I

hear: you intended one thing but your words resulted in

another thing entirely.»

Philip looked quizzical.

«I mean,” said Tony, «you said that insulting Pam

was the last thing in the world you wanted to do. Yet that

was exactly what you did, wasn`t it?»

Philip, reluctantly, nodded agreement.

«So,” Tony continued, sounding like a triumphant

attorney in cross–examination, «you need to get your

intentions and your behavior on the same page. You need

to get themcongruent —do I have the word right?» Tony

looked at Julius who nodded his head. «Andthat`s why you

should be in therapy. Congruence is what therapy is all

about.»

«Well argued,” said Philip. «I have no

counterargument. You`re right. That is why I need

therapy.»

«What?» Tony could not believe his ears. He glanced

at Julius, who gave him an «atta boy» nod.

«Catch me, I`m going to faint,” said Rebecca who

slumped back in her chair.

«Me, too,” echoed Bonnie and Gill, slumping back as

well.

Philip looked around at the sight of half the group in

mock unconsciousness and, for the first time since entering

the group, grinned.

Philip ended the group levity by returning to the

issue of his personal approach to counseling. «Rebecca`s

discussion of Schopenhauer`s tombstone comment implies

that my approach or any approach based on his point of

view is invalid. Lest you forget, I struggled for years with a

serious affliction which Julius failed to cure, and I was only

healed by patterning my path upon Schopenhauer`s.»

Julius instantly supported Philip. «I don`t deny

you`ve done good work. Most therapists today would say

it`s not possible to overcome a severe sex addiction on your

own. Contemporary treatment involves long–term work—I

mean many years—in a structured recovery program

consisting of individual therapy and groups meeting

multiple times a week often along twelve–step principles.

But no such recovery program existed back then, and,

frankly, I doubt whether you would have found it

compatible.

«So,” Julius continued, «I want to go on record as

saying that your feat is remarkable: the techniques by

which you controlled your runaway drives worked—better

than anything I offered, even though I gave it my best

shot.»

«I`ve never thought otherwise,” said Philip.

«But, here`s a question, Philip, is there a possibility

your methods are now superannuated?»

«Super...what?» asked Tony.

«Superannuated,” whispered Philip, who was sitting

next to Tony—super (Latin forbeyond ) plus annus

(years)—in other words,outmoded, obsolete. ”

Tony nodded thanks.

«The other day,” Julius continued, «when I was

wondering how to bring this home to you, an image came

to mind. Imagine an ancient city that built a high wall to

protect it from the wild torrents of an adjacent river.

Centuries later, though the river had long dried up, the city

still invested considerable resources in maintaining that

wall.»

«You mean,” said Tony, «continuing to use some

solution even when the problem had gone away—like

wearing a bandage long after the cut had healed.»

«Precisely,” said Julius. «Maybe the bandage is a

better metaphor—right to the point.»

«I don`t agree,” Philip addressed both Julius and

Tony, «that my wound is healed or that containment is no

longer necessary. For proof one need only look at my

extreme discomfort levels in this group.»

«That`s not a good measure,” said Julius. «You`ve

had little experience with intimacy, with expressing