Maxie Freud: Stories Of Mice And Psychotherapy

By Joe Mansfield

Let’s face it: day-to-day dramas have always fascinated us – especially today with our increasing awareness on people’s psychology and on the role of therapy. I love witnessing that quick, knowing smile of delight when I explain the premise of his stories to a new person. They seem to “get it” right away!

Maxie Freud and his cohort of intrepid mice provide a unique window into the world of therapy and human nature. Who better to bear witness to the ins and outs of our personal strivings than our audacious Maxie and his band of curious and spirited mice? Readers of a certain age could easily imagine the Maxie Freud stories as a modern extension of the wondrous Brian Jacques series Redwall.
The setting is mostly within the walls and cellar of a small, two story older office building that houses a group practice of therapists and psychiatrists. But these are not your basic “cute mouse stories.” Daily dangers face the plucky band of mice. But undeterred, they prowl the many passageways and peepholes seeking answers to the age-old mouse question “What the hell makes these humans tick?”

The mice enjoy unlimited access to the therapy sessions and the private lives of the therapists. In one case they are instrumental in the removal of a “therapist gone bad.”

A senior therapist, the practice owner, takes a daily mid afternoon break to view re-runs of old TV shows. Little does he know that several mice are his secret viewing companions. The mice have even incorporated TV catch phrases into their daily discourse – especially the old Westerns.

Their curiosity is endless: they have daily philosophical debates about ethics and personal choices. They begin to mimic aspects of the therapy staff. They even have their own “staff meetings” and try to mirror proper communication styles.
Life is never boring or easy for our mice. In spite of multiple crises and unexpected visits from other animals of seedy provenance, they constantly keep striving to understand their humans. At times and in small brave ways, their gutsy attempts at intervention often go awry.

Also, life here is not always fun and intrigue. There’s the constant danger of being captured by Clarence the sadistic, ever prowling, neighborhood alley cat from the next-door lawyer’s building. Also, several of the mice witness an office robbery leading to a scary episode involving an armed ex-husband and his showdown with a police detective. Could it be that our mice played a part in the ex-husband’s arrest?

You’re in for delight as Maxie tries to entice other male mice to form a “Men’s Group”. Come along for the adventure as well as the terror that results when Maxie and Catherine, the colony matriarch, go from observing a very emotional couple session, to inadvertently landing in this feuding couple’s home. Then, there is their wild smelly ride, hopefully back to the practice, with Maxie and Catherine stowed in the back seat of the cheating husband’s 1969 Corvette?

You’ll be so impressed as you watch the mouse colony’s hilarious attempts at shock therapy on a depressed comrade (with a 9V battery?) and self-medication experimentation (Ritalin) etc.

All through these stories you’ll have a heartfelt desire for these noble mice to prosper and co-exist peacefully along side their therapist community.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joe Mansfield
• Release date: Jun 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301049387

Joe Mansfield

Hi, welcome to my world. I have always been curious about the “back stories” of the various institutions and career fields that I have passed through. The first half of my 40 year career in “human services” encompassed “hands on” social work with Mexican Americans and Navajos in the Southwest and later work with inner city families etc. In the second phase of my career as a Psychotherapist I have combined private and group practice with coaching and teaching communication skills to employees, supervisors and executives at a wide variety of corporations. At times this corporate work has led me through some “heavier lifting” where I was called upon to perform trauma interventions. During all of the above I have been a keen student of the inner workings of these various organizations. I have seen it all: from the noblest to the most ignoble of professional behaviors. My ultimate lesson from my human service work life has been that there are legions of silent heroes in these workplaces as well as far too many flamboyant No-goodniks to be kept under close watch and ferreted out and dismissed. To stay sane in this line of work it has been imperative to keep a balance of professionalism as well as personal enrichment – those who don’t are courting emotional and spiritual burnout: the “black lung” that lurks in our professions. My personal activities have run the gamut from novelist, stand up comedy, jazz singing, vintage race car photography and cable TV shows. I read avidly and sometimes ponder if I might possibly be the illegitimate son of Carl Hiaasen, David Sedaris or Kurt Vonnegut. Beyond all of this I live near Boston, MA. with my wife and our dear old black lab Java. So, please have some fun, hold on tight and enter the world of Maxie Freud

Book preview

Part I:

AS THE COLONY TURNS

Chapter 1: The Rosalie Show

Rosalie Jacobs was just finishing her weekly Tuesday 11 AM therapy session. As she rose to bid Dr. Tim Thurston farewell, neither she nor the good doctor had any idea that they, well mostly Rosalie, were being observed through a small mouse hole at the base of the therapy office wall.

Maxie Freud and his friend Murray nervously anticipated eyeballing Rosalie’s exit. It was almost time for that moment that they had been anticipating for the past six days, twenty-three hours, and forty-nine minutes. A full view of Rosalie in the flesh.

A week earlier, Maxie and his friend Murray had eavesdropped on Dr. Thurston’s phone conversation about Rosalie with a colleague. Dr. Thurston talked about Rosalie’s figure and piqued their curiosity. Their friends couldn’t quite grasp the big deal.

Admittedly, they didn’t get the same glorious eyeful as the person sitting across from Rosalie, Doctor Thurston. Their point of purview from the mouse hole was more than five feet below his. In his intense desire to achieve maximum Rosalie viewage, and much to Murray’s horror, Maxie edged his little face out of the mouse hole. First, his nose and then his head poked out three quarters of an inch. Maxie needed to see what Dr. Thurston was so interested in. Murray grabbed Maxie’s tail and yanked him back into the hole. If the humans knew they were mice about, they would call Maggie the Murderer the exterminator. Mice were considered pests, although Maxie didn’t see himself as that.

As they headed for their mouse staff meeting, Murray conducted a running judgment on Maxie’s reckless mouse hole behavior, telling him, If Dr. Thurston had seen you, or worse, if Rosalie had, she would have tossed a nutty and Dr. T. would have had the exterminator here so fast it would make your head spin. Was it really worth it for you to see, that woman…..

Maxie decided to finish the sentence for him. Rosalie Jacobs?

Totally peeved, Murray threatened: If you ever are so foolish again, I’ll bring a motion to sanction you at a council meeting. And I am not kidding! The last time Maggie the Exterminator was hired to spread her nasty little poison pellets, we didn’t dare eat for a week.

Ever the wise-guy, Maxie replied, Well, a little weight loss wouldn’t really hurt some of us.

Chapter 2: Mouse Colony Staff Meeting

Murray liked arriving at the noon mouse staff meetings early to find a primo seat. Maxie, however, had strayed en route to watch a spider building a web. In his typical ADD fashion, Maxie had lost track of time and arrived late at mouse staff, the regular staff meeting that was held in a quiet cellar area beneath the window-sill. The bright noon sun cast warmth over the gathering of 6 mice. They couldn’t fully surrender to the pleasure of this nearby window’s benevolent radiance, as they had to be constantly watchful for the potential appearance of Clarence, the evil neighborhood tomcat. Clarence was unofficially kept and fed as the resident rodent control agent at the lawyer’s building next-door. Clarence was sadistic and determined. He patrolled the neighborhood around the lawyer’s building–ever seeking the concentrated odor of a mouse gathering---and always eager to find a weakness in a window screen or better yet, a carelessly unlocked cellar window. Injured birds and old, slow chipmunks also found a welcoming pallet.

Today, Catherine moderated mouse staff. She was highly regarded by the entire mouse colony as a fair-minded, selfless protector of their safety as well as their oral history. Their oral history was highly valued and mainly responsible for the longevity and tight knit spirit of their colony. Their mouse history was key to their survival, especially in a world of evil Maggies and alley cats, that were always trying to get them. Catherine and Rollo were entrusted with the status and responsibility of co-keepers of their survival-traditions and stories about noteworthy loonies that had passed through the therapist's group practice upstairs.

At mouse staff, Catherine counted heads and realized that Maxie was missing. But before she had a chance to ask about his whereabouts, Maxie burst into the meeting, full of enthusiasm about the talents of the spider he had just observed.

Maxie Freud, as he had named himself, loved to share his contagious energy. Standing on his hind paws, one front paw on his hip, he used one of his many funny voices to mimic Sarah White - the grief therapist from upstairs. She liked to say important things at meetings in threes. Now Peepill, Peepill, Peepill. We’ve got much, much, much to accomplish here today. So let’s all focus, focus, focus!

But sensing that Catherine was seriously bothered by something, he quieted down, got off of his Sarah White shtick, and instead chose to sit across from Murray with the hope that he could at least make faces at him. Perhaps Maxie could get him to laugh.

Catherine began to speak. I am sorry to report that Erich suffered a head injury this morning, but I think he’s okay, Catherine started. He was observing those bad, A.D.D. Shaughnessy twins doing their usual bang up job of destroying the waiting room. One of the twins impulsively looked behind the toy box, scooped Erich up, and then he and his brother began tossing him back and forth singing and acting out that disgusting 'Little Rabbit Fru Fru' song. Virginia is sitting with Erich now. I’ll fill her in on the details of today’s meeting later.

Catherine grew serious. I also have more troubling news to report. We, or rather Rollo, has discovered that our office manager Rebecca is stealing money from the practice upstairs. Rollo why don’t you share what you’ve discovered, she said.

Rollo, the second oldest of the colony, replied, This is serious. Of course, we all know that the therapist community has, oh shall I say, minor irregularities, but this situation can be very devastating for us all. By just plain luck, I happened to overhear Rebecca on the phone with her mother last week discussing their shocking arrangement. At first, I couldn’t believe it. But I’ve kept an eye on her since then and it's true. Rebecca has found a way to rig up a second set of books.

Murray interrupted, What is a second set of books, Rollo?

I’m not sure, Rollo replied. All I know is that since Doctor Rossi took himself off of Lexapro, he’s sinking back into his depression, working less and losing touch with some day to day stuff like overseeing the practice's finances.

Murray asked, Do you think that Doctor Rossi's condition fits the criteria for a major depression? I’d hate to see that happen again. He’s tried so hard to be strong since his wife Betsy was killed. Oh God, taking himself off of Lexapro! What was he thinking?

Maxie chimed in, We shouldn’t be worried about major depression just yet, his appetite and weight seems unchanged. Doctor Rossi is planning that trip to Italy in the spring with his daughter and her husband. That proves that he’s able to plan for the future. I believe that we are still looking at a typical bereavement profile.

Mildly amused by Maxie’s contribution, Rollo continued, Thank you Doctor Maxie for your considered analysis, but let’s get back to the Rebecca situation. It appears that she and her mother have stolen over ‘fifty thou’—whatever a ‘thou’ is. Rebecca's mother works at a credit onion. The mother is in the process of setting up a special account to hide the money in a second set of books.

Maxie asked Rollo, A credit onion? Sounds tasty, but are you sure that you heard right?

Rollo replied, All I can guess is that it’s some type of a junior bank. Anyway, if they steal too much money from the practice, Doctor Rossi won’t be able to pay the bills. He will go bankrupt and cover the head over. The whole practice will close. And if the practice closes, what will happen to our building? It might be ripped down and we’ll be out in the cold!

A collective shiver of fear coursed through the group, almost as terrifying as three weeks prior at a mid-staff meeting. On that morning, the evil and deadly paw of Clarence the Cat had crashed through the screen and grabbed Abbey, the colony matriarch, and raced off with her. Poor Abbey.

Catherine, trying to control her agitation and get things back under control, began to think out loud. She said, We must not fall into cognitive distortions. We have the ability to master this crisis! If we panic, we’ll start to get sloppy in our organization and housekeeping. And guess what? Before we know it, Maggie the Murderer will drive up in her Exterminator Truck and who knows what new tricks she’ll have up her mean little sleeves. Also, Rollo and I have discussed the possible necessity of setting up three shifts to monitor this situation.

Maxie, not the most industrious group member leaped up: Three shifts! Aren’t you overreacting? Catherine cut in, We think that Rebecca is coming in some time between midnight and 6 AM to--as she calls it --cook the books.

Maxie quipped, Does she use some credit onion to flavor the cooked books? He looked over at Murray and was happy to see that was it, he had gotten