The Good Psychologist

A middle-aged psychologist works with patients by day and teaches a psychology class at the local college by night. He is in love with Nina, a married former colleague who has since moved away, and has a child with her whom he has never known. He begins working with a new client, a stripper, delving into the root causes of the stage fright that has prompted her to begin therapy. But that doesn't change much. In fact, we never learn his name, and he and most of the other characters in the book remain remote throughout. The psychologist doesn't appear to be close to anyone—he plays basketball with a group whom he specifically doesn't classify as friends—and he is in regular contact with his clients and his students only. He is lonely and sad, although his character does not evoke much sympathy from the reader. At some point, he realizes that he has to overcome his own psychological problems.