The Skunk Woman Story

– How many of you ever heard my skunk story? Why not? – [Woman] (laughs) We don’t wanna waste it. This happened to me when I was oh, I would say that was probably in the early 1950s, late ’40s, early ’50s. In Kansas. And there was a woman who had been a daughter of a wealthy family. It was a furniture manufacturing family. And she had been to a couple of analysts and was called unanalyzable and was referred to the Menninger Clinic for good psychoanalysis. The police decided that she should be put in the day hospital, that means all the activities that go into that, with outbound for psychotherapy appointments. I was in charge of one of the sections, and one of the doctors there on my section was supervising this woman’s activities in the hospital. So she was supposed to be analyzed and be in a day hospital and all that stuff. I used to hear about her more than I knew her. I knew her when I saw her, but that was about the extent of it. But anyway… She had an absolute genius for driving other people away from her. She could join a group in the canteen and five minutes later everybody had left and then she’s– (audience laughing) Whatever she did, over and over and over. She was a true loner all by herself. And eventually, after a month or two, however long it was, I had a note from the chief saying that she’d been tried in psychoanalysis and she was unanalyzable and would I please get one of my doctors to do supportive psychotherapy with her. I said sure, there’s always people always got time for another psychotherapy one. When they had written me, I told them that I’d had a request for a psychotherapist for this woman, and which member of my group had time for psychotherapy? And not a damn soul spoke up. And I knew in me they had time. So I make a speech. I said, “Isn’t anybody on this section “that’s interested in science, “and if you had to go to the skunk-works, “you would go as late in the morning as you could, “and you’d leave as early in the afternoon as you could. “But if you had a motivation to find out “what makes a skunk stink, (audience laughing) “the more the skunk stunk “the more staying power you would have.” (audience laughing) That woman had been skunking out everybody. (audience laughing) About five minutes after that staff conference was over, one of the guys came by and said, “I would be willing to work with that woman “if you’ll let me,” and I said, “Well, sure, I’ll let you.” And that came shortly before I moved to Washington, but I was there through several months of it. That woman got a perfect result. And that was the therapist that was just not going to be skunked out with whatever she did. And, you know, he went on to get a perfect result with that young lady. And after I moved to NIH, they decided to play-act them parts, some very important people did, at the annual meeting of ortho. And they asked me if I would come back and be the section chief and I said, “Good God, I’m too busy for that.” They got somebody else to play my part, but they replayed that entire thing. (audience laughing) They did every damn bit hinged around that speech I made that day at that set of partners. I got kinda mad at them goddamn people. I knew goddamn that they had time. But they didn’t want to get involved with somebody that they didn’t like or that did something they didn’t like. But that story has remained the type of story out there. So this has to do with your skunky family, and if they can get rid of you, they will. This has to do with skunky marriages too. (laughs) And if you have a spouse wants to skunk you out, they’ll get rid of you. But if you have the staying power to stay there, they cannot succeed. (audience laughing) And the name of that is Triangle. Now, when I pulled that one on the skunk lady, I ain’t ever heard of triangles. (audience laughing) I was just operating out of something else. Triangles were in it if you wanted to open triangles. But I was just being practical. (audience laughing)