I decided to give Marina a polygraph. While most people think of it as a lie detector “test,” it can also be used to determine someone’s reaction to a series of questions. I wanted to find out about Marina’s fantasies, if she had any. I believed her problem was not physical but rather tied into her emotional makeup. In previous sessions we discussed her sexual history and her abuse by an older brother when she was just entering puberty. The goal was not just to understand the problem but to help her overcome the physical aspects of it. I was looking for triggers to her excitement.
I asked her a series of questions about various sexual situations.
“Have you ever been seen naked by a strange man? Do you ever think about showing your body to someone?”
“Have you ever wanted to punish a man? To spank or whip him?”
“Do you like to be spanked?”
“Have you ever wanted to have a threesome? With two men or a man and a woman?”
The questions explored a lot of fantasies. I paused between each so that we could see her reaction on the polygraph. It would take some time to analyze the results but a few things became obvious. She seemed most excited by the idea of being forced to have sex, to be tied up, even raped. The irony of this considering her abuse at a young age didn’t escape me. It was a correlation I had seen in other patients. There was more, of course. Various degrees of reaction.
My final question, “Do you get excited when discussing sex, such as taking this polygraph.”
She paused, “Yes, I do. Getting excited isn’t a problem if I talk about, think about or read about sex. Just reaching a climax.”
This would lead to a discussion with Hector to prepare her for the next session with him.
To Be Continued
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