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I have been working as a psychologist for almost 10 years now. I have worked at many offices and have been part of many teams. I have developed my communication skills throughout those years. I have learned to adapt to many work environments. Before getting the job at the clinic Le Savoir, I had to go through a back round check, a psychologic test and I had an on-the-job training. I really wanted to work there because I knew how great the team was and of course, I knew they had amazing retirement plans. I studied Psychology for 6 years at Université de Montréal to practice my dream job, to be a psychologist. I have always loved helping people and have always been curious to understand the human brain. It often happens that we do something weird or even unexpected. I will always remember that one secretary from a few years ago. She was kind, determined and dedicated to her job. She was loved and appreciated by the whole office. At the time I had an 8-year patient old named Jordan. His first session went great. He told me that he had a friend named Michael and that his friend was sitting with us. I immediately understood that Jordan wasn’t like the other kids. Michael was also an 8-year-old kid. Jordan was an A plus student. He was a bright kid with a lot of ambition, but little did I know that Jordan was schizophrenic. Not only he was schizophrenic but with the sessions, I understood that he was at the fourth stage of schizophrenia, which is the second to last stage of schizophrenia. I asked Jordan to tell me a little bit about him. Jordan was raised by a single mother who had given up everything for a man 10 years ago. She had James and her ex didn’t want to raise a kid, so he put her in a dilemma, and she chose to keep the child instead of being with him. She didn’t have her high school diploma, so she had to start working in a dead-end job with no job-training and no employee benefits. She started having drinking problems while being pregnant with Jordan. She had to deal with a kid alone, working a minimum wage job and having a hard time putting food on the table. Jordan didn’t get the moral support and the love he needed. That’s why he had an imaginary friend, Michael. The Social Services took Jordan from his mom 2 years ago because she re-collapsed in her drinking problems. Since then, he went in 8 different foster families. We were in our tenth session and I immediately felt that something was wrong. Indeed, everything went wrong. Jordan had a psychotic episode. In 10 years, I never saw something like this. He went crazy! He threw my brand-new computer, my chair and went in front of the clinic to hit my secretary. He bit her arm so hard. She screamed so loud that I thought he bit in her bone. I had to call the police, so they could control Jordan. A few moments later, they came, and they took him to the hospital. Following that event, he was hospitalized for 7 weeks. My secretary also went to the hospital to get sutures. She had to take few weeks for herself and had to get through therapies to get better. When Jordan went out of the hospital, he had to meet a new foster family. The other one didn’t want to deal with him and were afraid of being physically aggressed by him. Despite his psychosis episode, I decided to take him back as a client. I wanted to study his behavior and understand what drive him to do so. I sat with him and asked him how he felt. Complete silence. No words came out of his mouth. I asked questions, but still no answer. The session was completely useless. I tried to find out from the other psychologists in the clinic, to understand if they had ever experienced anything similar, but nothing. I met Jordan once again, and still a total void in my eyes. I asked him questions, and still no answer. Until I ask him a question about Michael. When I said Michael's name Jordan started to shake. I asked him if Michael had spoken to him recently. He told me yes. I asked him if he was friends with Michael and he told me he wasn't. I asked him why he was no longer friends with Michael and silence returned. I asked if Michael was in the room, he said yes. I finally asked if Michael was mean, and he started to cry. I understood that Jordan had been pushed by his imaginary friend to destroy everything in the room and hit the secretary. Jordan looks at me and says "Stop!" Stop! I don't want to hurt her! I tell him not to listen to Michael and that Michael is not his friend. I try to remain calm even though I’m extremely stressed. I tell him that Michael is mean. Jordan looks at me and loses consciousness in front of me. A few minutes later, he regains consciousness and explains to me that Michael wanted him to hit me and bite me like he had done with the other secretary. I thank him for sparing me and ask him if he took his medication. He admits to not having taken them all. I explain to him that it is by missing his medication that Michael will come back. Today, 4 years later, Jordan still comes to see me to talk about his worries. He is now 12 years old and has just entered high school. He has been living with the same family for 4 years too, and he loves his adoptive mom very much. Michael hasn't reappeared in Jordan's life since the last psychosis either. One thing is certain, I would have learned a lot with this young child.

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