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Writer's pictureBernard Beitman, MD

My “Pair of Glasses” Synchronicity

My 22-year-old patient and I surprised each other. What does it mean?


The Blue-Framed Glasses (Source: Bernard Beitman)

I bought some blue-framed glasses, because I thought they were cool. I put them on my desk with my back to the patient who walked in without my looking at her. I turned around to surprise her and, lo and behold, she, for the first time in 20 or so sessions, was also wearing glasses. She does not like to wear them but felt the urge to do so before coming in. The patient thinks in symbolic realism — that there are many symbols in daily life that reflect back our minds, conflicts, and questions and that these symbols may be handled like dreams, novels, plays and especially movies.

We laughed a lot. We spent some time discussing the meaning of this coincidence. Since she is a writer, I asked her to write an essay entitled “A pair of glasses.” She laughed when I explained that this title is a condensation of the more accurate description: A Pair of a Pair of Glasses. Laughing together strengthened our already close relationship. It suggested that we were traveling on similar wavelengths, like two airplanes passing each other at the same altitude. What does it mean as part of her therapy with me? How can we use this synchronicity for her development? What does it mean for me? Please let me know what you think about this one!


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Gregory H. M.
Gregory H. M.
2023년 7월 13일

Option A: "It means nothing".

Option B: "It means a lot".

Option C: "It means a lot to the two of you".

Option D: "I'm jealous". Haha.

Option E: Other

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gliderbeee
2023년 7월 13일

Did this happen in 2018? The date of this post is July 14, 2018. Perhaps a typo, but I find that interesting as well.

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