“She?” Grace said it again while looking at Herman.

Herman laughed in a nervous way. “He must be shocked. I want you to watch cartoons,” he told Jake.

Herman tried to make Grace feel better after Jake left. There was still stress.

“I’ll call the school and get Jake an appointment with the psychologist,” Grace told me. “Now that you’re not working, you can take him to the appointment.”

“I’m trying to find a job!” Herman almost yelled.

“I understand. “But…maybe spend less time at that Moe’s Diner you go to a lot and help Jake more,” Grace said in a stiff voice.

Herman told her he would help her with her son but didn’t say much else.

Grace chose to talk to Jake after dinner. “Talk to the school counselor.” “Honey, it might help you figure out what’s going on, okay?”

Jake said, “Okay, Mom,” and then he wished Herman and Grace a good night.

When Herman saw that his secret affair with Jezebel was coming out, he felt terrible. He thought he could handle the affair, but it was harder than he thought.

Grace and Herman looked at each other in the living room. “Taking him to the doctor is the best thing that we can do. The safety of my boy is in danger.”

They fought, and Herman said it wasn’t necessary again, but Grace was determined and won. “I will set up a time for Jake to see the psychologist!” I’m going to take him there myself!”

Jake’s worry was clear in Dr. Warren’s office, which is good for kids. He sat down and his little hands gripped the chair.

Dr. Warren gave him a warm welcome. “Let’s talk about what happened, Jake.”

Jake was unsure what to do because he was thinking about the scary event that brought him here and Herman’s ghost trick. “Herman said if I close my eyes, the ghost would disappear.”

The doctor looked at Grace. “What did Herman teach you?” Whoa, ghosts?”

According to Grace, Herman was her second husband. Jake then said, “Herman told me that when I close my eyes, the ghost can’t see me, so it goes away.”

Dr. Warren spoke softly to Jake. “You can’t close your eyes and make bad things go away. Talk to someone you trust.”

Jake agreed, saying that he was also afraid that the ghost would break up his family. “I saw a woman. That woman scares me because she might make Herman leave Mom.”

The doctor looked at Grace. “I’m going to suggest that Jake come in more often to better understand how I feel.” “Jake,” he said to the boy, “could you please excuse us?” Your mom is going to leave soon. I want to set up a time for your next visit with her.”

Jake said “ok” and left the room.

“I got a divorce from Jake’s dad because he chєαtєd on me.” “She slept with someone else,” Grace told Dr. Warren.

The man said “yes.” “I think what’s happening with Jake is a classic case of Kleinian Projective Identification,” he told me.

“Is it true?” “What should we do?” Grace asked, having doubts about her son.

“Don’t worry,” Dr. Warren told her. The idea comes from Melanie Klein’s work in the field of child psychology. When a child does projective identification, they put their feelings onto someone else or the outside world. They often do this to make the other person feel what they are feeling, which can lead to mistaken behavior like Jake’s. We’ll take care of this.

Grace said with worry, “I just want what’s best for Jake.” “If you think you can help him, then we’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I’d like to work with Jake,” Dr. Warren said next. “He might need therapy and medicine.” “I’m here to help both of you.”