After conducting the beginning “here’s what we’re going to do during this process” introduction, she asked me, “So are you ready to begin?” I said, “Yes.” She opens up my chart and says, “So. I notice your mother is Mennonite. And I see you have the Amish beard thing going on for you. I also notice you’re wearing the blue-shirt that Amish sometimes wear. Let’s talk about the beard. Why do you have a beard?”
And thus began my 6 hours of talking about myself, taking the MMPI-2 and delving into all sorts of pretty interesting conversations. I will receive my formal “report” in a few weeks, but…let’s just say it was a very revealing and interesting experience. I think I was able to think about some things in new ways and be presented with some interesting thoughts about my life thus far. But I still find it humorous that she first wanted to talk about “the beard.”