Group Therapy
Today, Julia conducted her group therapy sessions. It had been her idea and it made a pleasant change from the office where she spent the rest of the week. The guild of the counsellors, as has already been mentioned was the newest in the city. It already had a large clientele, however for the guild to become established in Ankh-Morpork, Dr Wonkski, the head of the guild, had decided that they needed to aim at the lower end of the market. Group sessions were cheaper. Julia believed that the support and help the council provided should be made available for everyone, no matter what their status.
She walked the short distance to the civic hall. The air was refreshingly cool after her stuffy, pink and peach office. The Guild of Counsellors was not a beautiful building; the UU was grand, the Assassins guild was classy, the Counsellors guild was supposed to look ultra modern and clean-cut. In reality, it was an eyesore of a grey box building. The architect, Julia decided, ought to be beaten to death with his design plans.
When she arrived most of her group were already seated in a circle in a small room. Most looked slightly nervous; others like they had rather not be there. She flashed them a smile and said in what she hoped was a calm and soothing voice, " Good evening everyone," a murmur of greeting went through the group. "Could we begin by introducing ourselves? I'll go first: My name is Julia and I'm a trained counsellor. In this group we will talk together and hopefully solve each other's problems. Who'll go next?"
Nobody seemed very inclined to go next. A large lady with auburn hair nudged the man sat beside her and whisper, "Come on Sam."
Sam gave her a look of dread, but rose to his feet and said, "Hello. I'm Sam. I used to be a drunk." He sat down and his wife gave him an encouraging smile.
He didn't seem embarrassed but Julia though she had better say something. "Thank you for being so open Sam."
"Ook, Ook." A large male Orang-utan sat in the corner. Julia recognised him as being the Librarian from the UU. She decided not to comment.
A man 4ft high stood up. "Hello, I'm Nobby Nobs. I like women's clothing." A mental picture sprung into Julia's mind. Let's just say it wasn't a particularly attractive image and leave it at that.
"Uhh" said quietly Julia. She looked around the room to see if anyone had notice her last comment. The rest of the group seemed just as transfixed as she was. Sam shuddered. Nobby's already unusual complexion changed shade. Julia wondered if he was blushing.
"Thank you Nobby. Who'll go next."
A zombie stood up, or at least rose from his chair. "Reg Shoe. I'm a zombie; undead, YES – unperson, NO"
Some of the members of the group seemed a little disturbed by his presence at the meeting. True, he was a repulsive sight. Body parts tended to fall of him at inconvinient moment, however Julia, being a trained counsellor was not shocked by any of this. Or at least, did not appear to be.
"Thank you Reg."
The last member of the small group was a young man with short brown hair, brushed neatly. He was dressed in a watchman's uniform.
"I'm Visit-The-Infidel-with-Explanatory-Pamphlets. Excuse me Commander, but I must speak my mind: Put your trust in the gods. I have various pamphlets that could help you poor unbelievers here today…"
"Thank you Visit!" Commanded Vimes. "This is neither the time nor the place."
Visit slouched out of the hall looking rejected. "I'll be back," he muttered; he didn't want Vimes to hear.
"I should have brought Schleppel and Brother Ixolite." Said Reg Happily; "They'd have enjoyed this!"
*Hope you like this. Please review. I hope this part has told you a little more about the Guild of Counsellors. Most of the reviewer commented on this in previous chapters. Also I don't know what Visit is supposed to look like. Has it ever been mentioned in any of the books?
Jo Jo