The psychologist’s hand was already hovering above the keyboard when she spoke.
“How has the past semester been for you?” she asked.
The boy gave a slow shrug.
“Things have been going well,” he replied shyly.
“Can you tell me a bit more?”
“I spend a lot of time with my friends, and my class is much better now.”
“And how were your grades in the first term?”
“I’m averaging around an eight.”
The psychologist nodded.
“That’s pretty good. And you?” she said, turning to the mother. “What do you think?”
The mother instinctively pulled her shoulders back and straightened up. This time she could answer with confidence, because she had prepared. She had learned from their last meeting, when the psychologist had remarked that after three years they could speak Spanish a bit better.
“I’m happy to see that my son is well-balanced and—”
“…that he’s what? Well-balanced?” the psychologist cut in.
“Y-yes,” the mother stammered.
The doctor raised an eyebrow. She leaned forward slightly and fixed her gaze on the mother.
“That sounds like a translation. ChatGPT?”
The mother shifted awkwardly in her chair. She didn’t answer. The psychologist didn’t let it go.
“So what exactly do you mean by that?”
The mother swallowed. Her confidence disappeared in an instant.
“My son is almost always in a good mood. He doesn’t have mood swings like kids often do at the beginning of puberty. It’s not like he’s laughing one moment and suddenly starts crying…”
“Alright, alright, I understand,” the psychologist interrupted again.
“So how should I say it then?”
“I didn’t say it was incorrect. We just don’t really use it. Maybe it’s a common expression in your language.”
“Yes, it is,” the mother said, gaining confidence. “I use it quite often myself, even in this sense. In fact, for me the word well-balanced describes this state of mind most clearly.”
“I see,” the psychologist nodded briefly. “It’s not commonly used here.”
“What do people say instead? Just so I know…”
“I already told you it isn’t a bad expression.”
“Just not something people use in everyday life. I see,” the mother said with a resigned smile.
“Oh, people do use it.”
“Just rarely.”
“I didn’t say that. It’s a perfectly acceptable expression. It’s just that when someone says something like that in a psychology session, it immediately catches my attention,” the psychologist said, sounding more animated again.
s soon as the final report closing the year-long treatment was finished, a mischievous urge stirred in the mother. Standing in the doorway, she turned once more to the psychologist who was seeing them out.
“Please, could you tell me what the right word would be instead of well-balanced?”
“I already told you everything is fine with it.”
“Yes, but you said it makes you raise an eyebrow.”
“Of course, because it’s a rather unusual expression when talking about mental health.”
“So what should I say instead?”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that expression. It just sounds a bit odd.”
The mother nodded. No further explanation was needed.