Psych Ward: Black Bolt

The client, Blackagar Boltagon, is better known by the name Black Bolt as both a super hero and the ruler of the Inhumans. He has previously worked with this writer in a couples therapy arrangement with his wife Medusalith (again, better known as Medusa) as they dealt with a new event in their relationship that caused a temporary upheaval in their connection to one another.

What was immediately striking upon meeting Boltagon was that he was able to speak to me. Previously, due to an Inhuman rite of passage/chemical exposure, the client had developed a power that altered his voice. In fact, it made his vocalizations so powerful that it prevented him from talking to others, lest he cause great damage to not only them but the physical structures nearby. Now, however, through means he remains unclear on, he is able to speak.

The client went on to reveal that he had just been rescued from a prison that his brother, Maximus, had deposited him in before leaving the planet with several other members of the Inhuman Royal Family.

Although he did describe the situation as traumatic, most of what the client was preoccupied with did not concern the treatment in prison, but rather what was revealed to him there. During his time in jail, he began to realize that he had made many mistakes and had been responsible for actions that he could no longer justify.

Additionally, he realized that his life of privilege had insulated him from a great many factors that may have led him to make these wrongheaded choices; that his willful isolation had not aided him in gaining wisdom, but rather set him back.

These revelations have left him confused and off-kilter, unsure of himself and the world in a way he could not recall since before his Terrigenesis. In his confusion, he sought this writer out given our past therapeutic relationship.

So far, he has found the experience very frustrating. The writer’s unwillingness to simply give him advice or answers, instead of encouraging the client to go deeper—to live with the ambiguity and regret—has often agitated Boltagon. While the writer has joined him in this space and validated the frustration, the writer stressed to him that therapy is not about simply telling him what to do or how to feel. Indeed, lasting change demands that he process his difficult emotions, not shove them aside or run from them.

However, this writer does recognize that perhaps there may be a clash of personalities here and that the client might feel more comfortable another therapist processing him. Therefore, he has been referred to Doctors Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward for an appointment on September 6. Details of their session can be found on that day in file BLACK BOLT #5. At that time, the client can decide which therapist might be the best fit for him.

Psy D. Candidate Tim Stevens is a Staff Therapist who must admit that, if he could not speak, he would feel guilty because everything he says is so darn fascinating.