Preparations to attend were made by the ugly stepmother and when the final moment arrived the three of them left poor Cinderella behind to clean the house. All her life, Cinderella fantasized how different things might have been if her father had not died. That night the tears of sadness kept flowing as she compared her fantasies with her reality. Suddenly from out of nowhere, this fairy godmother showed up and magically changed her life! She waved a magic wand and turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful ballroom gown. Then she waved the magic wand and changed some field mice into horses and a pumpkin into a carriage that would take Cinderella to the ball. There she met this handsome prince, but just as she was getting to know him better the clock struck midnight and Cinderella ran out of the palace.
We all know what happened next as the prince searched out the town to find his beautiful princess. The glass slipper fit Cinderella and the prince and her were married and lived happily ever after.
Sigh! He was everything that she dreamed of and everything that she wanted out of a relationship. But something just wasn't right! Several years had passed since that day of wedded bliss and Cinderella woke up one day realizing that she was not very happy. Lately she had become very tearful and depressed. She was having difficulty functioning with her everday activities because she preferred to stay in bed all day long, even though she didn't sleep. She was also experiencing difficulty falling asleep at night and trouble staying asleep. She had lost her appetite lately and nothing could give her an appetite, including her favorite dishes. She had also become more aware of how short-tempered she was when the prince tried to consol her.
What happened Cinderella? Did the shoe not fit you right? Wasn't this supposed to be the prince of your dream? Weren't you supposed to live happily ever after?
She found herself having difficulty explaining her feelings to the prince. He just couldn't understand why she was so unhappy when he had offered her everything a princess could ever want. She didn't fully understand her unhappiness so she decided to find out what was wrong.......
One day Cinderella went to a psychologist about the depression problems and found out that some of the sadness had to do with her marriage to the prince.
"An attachment deficit", the therapist told her, "that's what you have and this impasse comes from your early childhood".
Cinderella did not understand what he meant by "attachment" but he sure sounded like he knew what her problem was, so she made another appointment for the following week and went home feeling that things might improve.
The following day Cinderella went to her computer and did a search on the word "attachment" because she wanted to learn more about her problems. What she found out that day really surprised her. He was right! When she did a search on "attachment theory" she realized that she really might have an attachment deficit. She was so excited with this new found information that she could hardly wait for the prince to come home to share this wonderful news with him.
The following week Cinderella went back to see her therapist with her new insight and he was delighted that she had searched the net to learn more about her attachment deficit....
So, if you want to learn more about Cinderella's problems, please feel free to search the net under "attachment theory" and "object relations theory"...........
