“I had a strange appointment today,” Michelle began, then gave a brief overview of the session, and how his behavior and wandering eyes had made her uncomfortable. “Am I reading too much into things?”

Carla adjusted the gauzy blue scarf around her neck. “Only you know if you’re picking up on a vibe. But the key is always to refocus the patient, if this becomes an issue,” she said in her warm and friendly voice. She was a pro. She’d been doing this for many years, and Michelle was lucky for her support and her insight.

“Right. Of course,” Michelle said, since she certainly understood how to handle matters if a patient were ever attracted to her. Refocus the patient on the inner emotional experience and the therapy work. That was the rule of thumb. “It just seemed that something else was at play,” she added.

“Maybe he recognized you,” Jennifer said with a smile. She was a newer therapist to the group.

Michelle cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe he’s seen you out and about around town? Do you ever think about that?” Jennifer asked the crew.

Carla nodded, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair neatly behind her ear. “I do. You could run into anyone anywhere. I think it’s strange for patients to bump into their therapists in a public setting, but it’s inevitable. It’s happened to me a few times at the grocery store or movies, and then all of a sudden, the person you are trying to treat knows you buy Trader Joe’s Vanilla Almond Crunch cereal.”

“Well, that’s just a good cereal,” Michelle said with a smile.

“Or they know you went to see It’s Raining Men,” Carla added, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

Michelle’s eyes widened. “No way. Did you run into a patient at the stripper movie?”

Carla nodded sheepishly, and covered her face with her fingers. “I did. It was so embarrassing. It’s as if we’re not supposed to have a life outside our offices, but I did love that movie.”

Michelle laughed, and this was one of the many reasons why she adored Carla. The woman could shift from stripper movies to serious talk in the snap of a finger.

Jennifer jumped in. “I agree. So how do we find the balance between going to see a stripper movie and being able to guide a patient through their challenges with love?”

“I think it’s fine for a therapist to behave like a human being. To kiss your husband in public; to pick up a celebrity magazine at the store. To see a sexy movie. You just have to know the lines not to cross,” Michelle said. Lines like getting involved with a patient, and she’d made damn sure that hadn’t happened.

At the end of their meeting, Carla pulled her aside. “Your talk last week at The Pierson was well-received,” she said, and Michelle was filled with an odd cocktail of feelings—professional pride chased with the slightest dash of cat-who-ate-the-canary syndrome. That talk on new treatment strategies for love and sex addiction had set her on a collision course with Jack Sullivan and the best sex of her life. If she’d only slept with him one time, she’d still consider herself a lucky bitch. As it was, she’d had more than a baker’s dozen of times with Jack in the last several days, each one better than the last. “We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from attendees,” Carla added.