I tend to be really nervous when I see a new therapist, so when I started with mine I tried to over-prepare. I got the intake form ahead of time and filled it out. I wrote down relevant parts of my past, my treatment goals, and anything else I could think of that therapists typically ask in the first session. I thought of questions that I wanted to ask him...basically I prepared like I would prepare for a job interview.

About half-way through the session he had an analogy that he used to illustrate that once something is brought to your attention you tend to then see it all over the place. He asked me what kind of car I had. My mind went completely blank. This was not on the list of questions that I had prepared answers to. I honestly could not remember. I could have given him an exhaustive list of every medication I had ever taken. I could have told him what kind of therapeutic modalities I had tried. I had my family tree memorized to four generations. But I had absolutely no idea what kind of car I was driving.

I realized that not knowing what kind of car you own is abnormal, and my anxiety shot up. I guess I just sat there in stunned silence and then he asked again. "No really, what kind of car do you have?" I panicked. And then I realized "he's not going to know if I lie about this," and so I said the first thing that popped into my head "Ford Escort". That was completely wrong. I actually have a Ford Taurus. But to be honest, cars all kind of look alike to me. I'm much more likely to notice a color than a brand of car. Still, I managed to slip by undetected with my falsehood.