The Queen of the Inhumans just...

By Tim Stevens

Medusa appears to be a woman of above average physical fitness with unusually long hair. However, the fact of the matter is that Medusa is an Inhuman, meaning that while she shares many characteristics with Homo sapiens, she and her people have evolved beyond them. This may lead many to consider her a mutant, but as she has assured this writer, this is also not strictly correct. As her status as an Inhuman is a great source of pride and frustration for her, it is important that anyone dealing with her be conscious of this and respectful of the cultural differences implicit in her membership in this community.

Currently, Medusa continues to act as Queen of the Inhumans, a role that includes normalizing relations between humans and the Inhumans—a duty particularly problematic given recent events—and acting as the "voice" of her mute husband, the Inhuman King Black Bolt.

Medusa presented in session as confident, collected and intelligent, but also exhausted and frustrated. She characterized her life as being high stress, "higher than I have ever experienced before."

The bulk of this stress has been caused by a series of tragedies that have shaken her kingdom and her link to her husband. These have included the incarceration of her child, Ahura, the conflict between the Inhumans and the United States government, a brief dalliance with Black Bolt's brother Maximus, and the revelation that her husband had been replaced, at some point, by a Skrull. This situation has recently intensified because of an interstellar clash between the Inhumans—who have taken up residence in the Kree Empire and become that race's ruling body—and the Shi'Ar.

Given the nature of her current difficulties, the client and this writer agreed upon a treatment that involved continuing individual treatment on a weekly basis and introducing client therapy for her and her husband. As this writer is not culturally competent in dealing with Inhumans or with the speech disabled, I have referred her and Black Bolt out for their couple sessions.

In the client's work with this writer, the focus will be on self-care and stress management. Beginning with next session, she and I will identify stressors as well as objects, individuals and actions that she has noticed help her process stress in a healthy manner. Ultimately, the goal is the development of a crisis survival kit that she can use in the moment and skills that she can use afterwards to take care of herself and to let others know about how she is feeling.

Medusa's first couples counseling session is set for July 1 with Doctors Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Paul Pelletier. Please check WAR OF KINGS #5 for full details on the session.

Tim Stevens is a Mental Health Supervisor currently pursuing his Psy D who has experience teaching stress management skills.

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