〖 Counseling Log 〗

Date/Location 2026.07.18 (14:00 ~ 15:30) Counselor Name SY LEE Client Name Song Jeong-han Client Details 29 years old / Male / Diagnosis: MDD

Counseling Goals

Improve reality testing regarding the subject's past experiences and promote emotional stability by alleviating depression and anxiety caused by hallucinatory experiences.

Counseling Content

The client consistently reports past hallucinatory experiences and trauma symptoms resulting from them. The descriptions of the hallucinatory experiences are quite specific, and the statements remain consistent without changing.

Excerpt from records dated 2023.09.11, consistent with initial statements Full text of client's statement below (direct quote)

When I was in my second year of middle school, my parents' business hit a rough patch, so I was sent to my grandmother's house by the sea. I was at a sensitive age, so I did all sorts of things, saying I'd die alone and whatnot, but jumping into the shallow sea was the extent of it. (Laughs)

Then one day, I met her. I jumped into the sea as usual, and that day was the first time I thought I was really going to die. My body was sinking, but I felt a force pushing me up, so I struggled for my life and barely managed to poke my head above the surface. As I was gasping for air, a girl poked her head out of the water right in front of me. Since I couldn't swim, she grabbed my arm and swam to where some rocks were. I was too out of it to notice then, but after I barely managed to grab onto a rock and climb up to catch my breath, she was just staring up at me from the water. I reached out my hand to pull her up, but she just watched me, so I asked if she wasn't coming up. Then she dove back down, flipped over, and showed her scale-covered tail above the water. That's when I knew she was a mermaid.

At first, I thought it was a dream too. Am I really dead and seeing things? I just stared at her, dazed. I couldn't say anything for a long time, but she spoke first. She asked why I was playing in the water when I couldn't even swim. (Laughs) It was so absurd I burst out laughing. I had wanted to die until just a moment ago, but with those words, it felt like everything boiling inside me just crumbled away. Right. What I was doing wasn't a suicide attempt, it was 'playing in the water.' For me back then, that was the shock therapy that made me face reality. In a positive way.

From then on, I went to the spot where I used to try to die every day, but instead of jumping in, I called for her. At first, I just called out on the off chance, but she really showed up. (Counselor asks how he called her.) What? (Laughs) Just... I think I just shouted something like "Hey, come out!" And she really did. I went there every day to call her, and when she came, we talked for a long time. It was useless stuff, like my complaints about the world or whether mermaids really existed. But thanks to that time, I could breathe. We played and met like that for three whole years. To be honest, we didn't just talk and play. (Avoids eye contact and remains silent for a long time.) Anyway, we liked each other. We both knew how we felt about each other.

In my third year there, I got word to return to Seoul, probably because my parents' business had stabilized. That was my second year of high school. Naturally, I threw a fit saying I wouldn't go. If she had been a human, I would have at least tried to take her with me, but she's a mermaid. Someone who can't come out of the sea. There was no way to keep her by my side other than me staying in that village. So I tried to hold out until the end, but my parents were so strict it didn't work at all. I was dragged back to Seoul just like that. I explained the situation to her before I left and told her I'd come down every weekend. And I really did go to see her every weekend. It was obviously harder than when we met every day, but I could still see her, so it was bearable.

I spent almost a year like that, and then I became a senior in high school. My parents were already unhappy that I went down so far away so often, but I held out for a year using the excuse of seeing my grandmother. But once I became a senior, they wouldn't even tolerate that and blocked me from going entirely. They're the type who live for their own pride, so if I defied them, they'd make a huge scene. So I just closed my eyes and decided to endure for just one year. With the intention of living there once I became an adult. I wanted to tell her to wait just one year. I begged to go one last time and went to the sea where she was to tell her that.

When I explained the situation, she was sad but comforted me instead, saying it was okay. She looked so dejected because there was nothing she could do, and she looked so cute like that. (Stops, embarrassed, and covers mouth with hand. Then asks the counselor to forget the previous statement) To continue, that day was better than I expected. We wouldn't see each other for a year, but we promised to meet again after the entrance exams, and she chattered for a long time saying she would obviously wait. I just had to endure for exactly one year. I don't have much to say after that day. Other than the fact that I spent the year just studying and living the way my parents wanted.

Finally, the day the entrance exams ended. As soon as I left the testing center, I went back to that sea. And she didn't come out. I waited all night. Just in case, I hung around that beach for three whole days. But she didn't come. At first, I was just worried. Did something happen while I was gone? Was she hurt or in danger? With those worries, I went to the sea every weekend throughout my four years of university in Seoul. It was madness. She didn't show up once. And as soon as I graduated, I enlisted as if I were running away. Because I felt like I couldn't live sanely like this. Even then, every time I went on leave from the military, I went to that sea. Thinking, maybe, just maybe, she might reappear by now. But I still didn't see her once. After I was discharged, I gave up. I decided it was better to think that I was a crazy person who saw things and lost my mind during a hard time. That's why I came to a psychiatric hospital for the first time.

It seems to you too, Doctor, that I was just seeing things because I was in a delusion during a hard time, right? (Counselor asks if he really thinks it was a hallucination.) (Silence follows, then he avoids answering by looking away.) I haven't lived sanely since then. Usually, I pretend to be fine, smiling and getting along with people, but when I'm alone, I feel like there's a hole inside me. I wonder why I'm even bothering to endure time that has no meaning anymore. If it was all a delusion, I want to see her again even in my dreams, but I can't even sleep well. It's annoying. Omitted below

Today's Counseling Evaluation

To evaluate the progress of counseling, the same topics as the initial counseling were asked again. As a result, the statements remain consistent, and the reasons for extreme depression show the same pattern as the initial counseling. Counseling was directed toward helping the client strengthen present-centered thinking rather than negating his experiences.

Future Treatment Plan

Considering the current depressive symptoms and psychological state, it is judged that a combination of medication and counseling therapy needs to be continued. Continued outpatient visits and consultation with the attending physician are recommended.