MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from excerpt from  From Deep Within  (Lewis)  The Tattoo Lady   “I am not going inside that bitch’s office!” the woman screamed. “My husband is in prison in Iowa for selling marijuana. I wish he would come home! I need some help bringing him back and she just wants to talk about my medicine.”   “Ma’am, please sit down,” Anita, the secretary at the front window, said. “People in the waiting area are getting scared by your screaming. Please speak calmly about what you want.” Anita was fearless in the face of ranting patients. She had seen it all, from seizures in the waiting room to a patient wielding a knife. We all hid behind her feathers as she protected her flock of frightened clinicians.   I didn’t know who pressed the buzzer, the signal used if someone felt threatened by a client, but I heard it in the hallway. A single buzz alerted other staff for assistance; if two were sounded, the alarm rang straight to the police station and what loo...

  Excerpt from excerpt from  From Deep Within  (Lewis)  Ben and Bella   My office was on the seventh floor. Practitioners who rented office space in the large brick building nicknamed it ‘therapy row’ since it was occupied by so many therapists.   My square office was to the right of the elevator. I had two black leather chairs that reclined, with a tinted brown glass table between them. In the corner was a plain pine desk with file drawers, a clock and a phone. Healthy green plants were placed around the office, and pictures of nameless Caribbean islands lined the four walls.   Bella, who described herself as transgendered, walked into my office. She was a mixed race black woman dressed to the T. The paisley dress she wore was a mix of red, blue and green. She wore striking red pumps. I noticed her feet were large and out of proportion to her small frame. She was transitioning from a man to a woman, and some of her feminine qualities were still muted....