By Tim Stevens

The clients, Alexander Summers and Lorna Dane, attended session with this writer at the suggestion of several individuals in their lives. They, along with Rachel Grey, were stuck in outer space for a period of time and it was thought by friends and associates that discussing those events might prove useful for the couple.

Summers presents as an adult male in above average physical shape. He is a self-identified mutant who has adopted the name Havok and worked with the mutant rights group the X-Men as well as several of their related offshoots, such as the team known as X-Factor. The client has a complicated relationship to both the movement in general and, specifically, to his brother Scott Summers. Scott is best known as Cyclops, the individual who often pointed to as the field general of the X-Men. While the client’s commitment to doing good appears to be unquestionable, he does appear, at times, to be uncomfortable with belonging to these teams.

Lorna Dane is also a self-identified mutant who presents as an adult female of above average physical fitness and uses the codename Polaris. She, too, admits to ambivalence regarding organizations like the X-Men and points to her relationship with her father, Erik Lehnsherr, the mutant terrorist turned X-Man called Magneto, as a large source of that ambivalence. The couple’s recent choice to join with former colleagues in X-Factor Investigations, as opposed to remaining on Utopia where both Scott and Magneto are located, appears to have been fueled by Lorna’s desire to maintain a physical distance from her father.

Both the clients have amassed more than their fair share of trauma over the past several years. Summers has been kidnapped, seemingly mind controlled to attack his former teammates, forcefully inserted into another reality, lapsed into a coma, lost his memory, nearly killed by Polaris, and held as a prisoner of war while in space. In session, however, he largely presents as at peace with these events and endorses little to no indications of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He confesses that most of his psychological issues remain “family business.”

Dane, on the other hand, seems to have experienced her traumas in a more lasting, emotionally damaging way. In addition to having to come to terms with being the daughter of the notorious Magneto, she has been often emotionally manipulated by him to fuel his own agenda. Beyond her relationship with him, she has been mind controlled on multiple occasions, lost her powers, kidnapped, forced to become a Horseman of Apocalypse, and held as a prisoner of war and tortured.

In some ways, the couple is both their best support and the source of some of their biggest stresses. Dane has witnessed the apparent death of Summers as well as his seeming betrayal of his principles and friends. Summers has nearly been killed by Dane. They have rejected each other romantically on several occasions, including Summers breaking off their engagement just before their wedding. The relationship does seem, at times, to be very co-dependent. Neither, however, agreed to discuss this observation in session at this time. It is this writer’s hope that they will eventually be amenable to delving more deeply into their entanglement as, long term; it will almost certainly prove helpful to them both.

In the meantime, I have urged them to take their time re-acclimating to their lives here on Earth. In particular I urged them not to take on any new jobs or big projects. They both agreed, but it should be noted that their agreement felt disingenuous.

Lorna Dane and Alexander Summers have agreed to come in for follow up sessions. The first of these is scheduled for March 21 with Doctors Peter David and Leonard Kirk. Session notes will be located in the file marked X-FACTOR #233.

Psy D. Candidate Tim Stevens, MA is a Practicum Trainee at a community mental health facility and a Dialectical Behavior Therapy Consultant.