Everyone met up in the main room two hours later for the next part. This part of therapy let the couples see things from the other's point of view. Ted and Miranda had the chairs set up with two chairs in the center of the circle.
"Alright, if everyone will take a seat, we will start the next part." Ted said to the group. "We are going to try some role playing now. What we will do is have a couple sit in the chairs in the center of circle and have each play the part of the other one. It will open the lines of communication. So, let have Roman and Roxy start."
Roman and Roxy got up and walked to the center of the circle. They sat down in the chairs and waited for the instructions.
"Alright, now I want each of you to think about a happy memory from your marriage. Something that made you love the other. And I want you to think of a painful memory. One that might have lead us here today. Each of you think of that moment from your spouse's point of view and act it out for us."
Roman looked over at Roxy, really looked at her for the first time in a long time and smiled. He thought about the first time she'd told him she loved him. It hadn't been planned. It was so like her. So spontaneous and sudden. It was while they were still in law school. She'd had a particularly hard day in class and she'd called him up to comfort her. He'd stopped by with pizza and beer but it wasn't until he'd turned on the stereo and started dancing around like a fool that she'd laughed. Her laughter caused him to have a laughing fit of his own and he collapsed on the couch beside her. And then she said it. She looked away after, embarrassed that she'd finally put her feelings into words. And he'd known at that moment that he'd loved her too. He leaned over and kissed her gently.
Then, just like that, he was taken out of the memory and into another one. His smile disappeared when he thought of how just a few years later, they'd drifted apart. He'd sit at one end of the table with his files and a carton of Chinese food and she'd sit at the other. Both trying to prove something to the other he guessed. Proving who was the best lawyer. But he missed the way it was. When they first got married. When they'd spend an entire Sunday afternoon in bed watching movies and making love. They hardly talked most days and things had only gotten worse since he'd slept with Noelle. He missed his wife, his soul mate, his best friend.
Roxy looked at Roman as he sat in the chair facing her and then down at the rings on her hand. Their wedding day hadn't been anything special. At least not from the looks of things. But it meant the world to her. The start of their lives together. Their love held so much promise then. Back before their respective careers left her dreams of becoming a mother behind. Now here they were, five years later with successful careers, no children and on the brink of divorce. She closed her eyes and Roman's face flashed into her mind when he'd walked in and caught her with the DVD. And she'd known. Without him saying a word, she'd known it was true. Noelle was the tangible proof that their marriage was dying. She wasn't the sole cause of it but she was the straw that broke the camel's back. Suddenly, she felt self conscious. These were her memories, both the good and the bad. And she wasn't sure she wanted to share them anymore.
"Roxy, are you okay?" Miranda asked her.
"Yes." She replied taking a breath.
"Do you want to go on?" Miranda asked. "If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to."
She took another breath. "No, I want to do this to try to save my marriage."
Miranda nodded as Roman and Roxy started the role playing and the others watched. Roxy saw her memories from his view point and she realized how far apart they had drifted. Roman did the same with Roxy's memories. He saw the hurt from her viewpoint and he felt horrible.
"Alright. I think that did what we wanted." Miranda said to them. Both Roxy and Roman sat down and waited for the next couple to do the role playing. "Seth, you and Kaylee are next."
They both walked to the center and sat down. Both were flooded with the memories both good and bad. Seth's first good memory was when Kaylee agreed to go on a date with him. They had met in O'Malley's bar while out with some friends. He saw her playing darts with some nurses and he headed over and asked her out. He wasn't sure she would agree but she did and it was the best day.
But as he thought about the good memory, the bad memories came too. The most recent was the look on her face when she asked him if he had been having the affair with Laurel. He looked into her beautiful blue eyes and knew he would break her heart but he couldn't lie to her. So he admitted to it and the look on her face will always be in his mind. How broken she looked and the tears that flowed freely when she asked him to leave.
Kaylee looked at her husband and her mind thought about when he said he wanted to be with her forever. They were having a picnic on the roof of the hospital when he was working and she wanted to surprise him. They were talking about things and he just came out and said he wanted to be with her forever and that he loved her more than anything. She always placed that memory as one of the happiest.
But she also saw the bad that came. She had come home the morning after she had spent the night with the other guy. The house was empty and she welcomed it. She could try to make sense of what she had done. But a few minutes later, Seth came in and confronted her about what happened. And she saw how angry and hurt he was. She couldn't lie because that was not something she did. Plus he had the proof about what happened. She remembered the hurt look on his face and she felt horrible. It was a mistake. A horrible mistake and she regretted it every day since.
Each one did the role playing and like Roman and Roxy, realized the hurt each other felt. Ted and Miranda were pleased with the results of Roman and Roxy and Seth and Kaylee. They had each saw the other view point. And that was a step in fixing their marriages. Now it was to Randy and Jill. They hoped the same could be said.
"Alright, Randy and Jill. You're next." As with the others, Randy and Jill took the seats in the center of the circle.
Randy sat there and thought about the good and bad memories. The first good one that came to mind was when he realized he loved her. They had been going out for a month and things were good. He had planned a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant. After dinner, they were heading to the car when it started to rain. She smiled and took his hand and before he knew it, they were dancing in the rain. She looked so beautiful and he realized that he loved her. He had to smile at the memory.
But his smile quickly left when the bad came. The feeling of betrayal he felt when he saw her with Chris. After he was in jail for beating Chris, he sat there in the jail thinking about how he had failed her. What had he done to cause her to betray him? Had he been that bad of husband to her?
Jill's memories came as well. The good one she saw was their wedding day. It was the perfect wedding. It was held in a beautiful church and she wore the fairy tale gown. She looked at Randy with such love and she was certain she would never want anyone but him. That they would have a wonderful marriage.
The bad one was the first fight they had. It had been about her taking the job at the school. She had first been offered one in a public school and then she got offered the one in the private school. Randy told her she should take the public school so she could make a difference. She wanted the private school because she could earn more. They got into a big fight and it ended with Randy hitting the wall with his fist. They spent the night in the ER with him getting patched up. And they managed to work things out during that time. But eventually, the fights came more often. After Randy and Jill, Ted and Miranda told everyone they could go rest and they would meet in two hours for dinner. They felt the session was good and had the desire results. But this was just the beginning. There was more to work through. Now they needed to let the couples rest tonight and start again tomorrow.
Please Review! I didn't go into detail with the role playing because I wasn't sure how to do it.