I have to agree with J. Cronin's comment.  It seems to me  that D. Mittleman
made a fairly quick decision.  As a once very rebellious teen, I can
remember viewing the psychiatrist as a way to avoid my parents.  He could
have become an ally, but instead gave me thorazine.  While some of the
confidentiality of therapy might conceivably be compromised by the
situation, the therapist could still potentially become the beacon.  Of
course the mother needs therapy.  And it does not sound like a promising
situation, so it understandable that David might not want to get involved.

At 08:28 PM 5/4/97 -0400, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>In a message dated 97-05-04 08:44:45 EDT, you write:
>
>> He said he'd like therapy
>>with me since it would give him a chance to get out of the RTC once in a
>>while.  I don't detect any genuine therapeutic interests on his part.  On
>the
>>contrary, he has strong feelings of entitlement, he sees himself as having
>>gotten "shafted" by the legal system, and he shows little, if any remorse,
>
>I will take the unpopular position of saying that this is perhaps his
>pathology and if anyone is to give it a go with him in psychotherapy then
>this is the condition under which the therapy will start. I am not suggesting
>that you should offer him anything more than you have. In fact I give you
>credit for the interest you have shown him. I simply want to log that he is
>who he is and one might have to accept who he is in order to get started. I
>do believe that in some ways the legal system that may in a sense be a
>representative of the father and the paternal order for this young man may
>indeed be corrupt in his experience ( see that father was not such a prince).
>If it wern't for his violent potential I think it might be easier for us all
>to think more about the symbolic meaning of his preoccupations and to help
>him understand himself though it might be difficult even not possible.
>
>J Cronin
>chicago
>