By Tim Stevens

Bentley Wittman is an adult male who presents as being of average physical health. He admits to being a career super criminal who goes by the alias of The Wizard. He is best known by the public as a member of the super villain team known as the Frightful Four, but he has also perpetrated crimes on his own and as part of the so-called Intelligencia.

The client arrives exactly on time for sessions. He is often well dressed. On those occasions he is not, he is adorned with what appears to be high tech armor. He seems equally comfortable in either attire and does not acknowledge that one might be more appropriate for therapy sessions than another.

In session, Wittman presents as arrogant and generally disinterested in this writer’s opinions on almost anything. He rarely, if ever, expresses emotions beyond offhanded contempt for almost everyone. Even negative emotions typically associated with super criminals—explosive anger, massive insecurity, and so on—appear only fleetingly, if at all in session. He clearly appears to believe himself so superior to others he cannot deign to expel “real” emotions on them.

What is less clear is why he is coming for therapy. Given that he pre-supposes others are inferior to him, this writer remains confused as to why the client would continue to work with me. Questions on this matter are done away with in not entirely unexpected dismissive language. Wittman will not explain why he is at therapy or why he would trust a “lesser” mind to help him.

The topics that do repeatedly come up are the client’s repeated defeats at the hands of super powered vigilantes and his “son,” a clone who now goes by the name Bentley as well. Again, he remains rather unexpressive while discussing them, insisting that these are not matters he typically concerns himself with. However, the frequency with which he turns to these two themes, almost always without prompting, does appear to indicate these are matters of great importance to Wittman.

That said, without more to go on, this writer is planning to introduce the idea of terminating the therapeutic relationship. With a waiting list featuring several individuals anxious to be seen, an evil genius who refuses to disclose what brings him to therapy is not an effective or fair use of resources.

To ensure this writer is making a correct decision in this case, Bentley Wittman is being referred to Doctors Jonathan Hickman, Ryan Stegman and Nick Dragotta for outside assessment. Please review their findings in FANTASTIC FOUR #610 and FF #22, available on September 12 and September 26 respectively.

Psy D. Candidate Tim Stevens, MA is a Dialectical Behavior Therapy Consultant and Practicum Trainee.