Beer for writing papers...

Happy finals y'all!

This finals week I had what I THOUGHT was going to be a simple assignment...a reflection paper.  Yep - no research, no citations, just answer questions and be sure you demonstrate you understood the concepts.

Have you ever heard of a double-bind?  It's a term within family therapy where a person gives you two contradictory messages, you need to made a choice, and you are screwed either way you go.  Often times when this happens regularly in a family system, it can contribute to the development of schizophrenia.  No, this reflection paper was not one of those.  I knew I had to do it, and I knew it would be pretty long.  But hey, now you are one step closer to being a MFT.  I know that is totally the reason you clicked the link to read my review.

Unlike my usual time out and about at the bar with my schoolwork, I opted for dinner and beer on my study break.  I'd answered 15 of the 25 requisite reflection questions, and it was time for something tasty.  By the way, have you heard of an emotional divorce?  It's when two people who are married separate themselves from one another emotionally, often before they get an actual divorce.  Before divorce was as common as it is now, it was often the only way people could divorce.  Oh reading about marriage therapy is soo uplifting is it not?

I picked Double Jack (Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA) because I was feeling the hops, as well as I thought perhaps I could make some kind of clever play on words with the double-bind thing.  Then I realized family therapy isn't funny - or at least I have had trouble making it so.

The beer was not funny either - rather it was delicious.  Hoppy and herbal on the nose with strong hints of citrus, this beer was incredibly malty through the start and middle of the taste, ending with a delightful nip of VERY hoppy bitterness that would put even the most challenging family clients to shame.  I pondered Whitaker's "therapy of the absurd," where all members of a family (as many generations as are living) can sit in group session all at once, and savored the strong grapefruit and, dare I say, orange flavors.  I highly recommend this beer.  It was crisp, refreshing, and had enough hops to satisfy even the toughest Pacific Northwest palette.

The paper - it ended up being 46 pages long.