“I think Belle liked me because I treated her like a person. I did exactly what you’re doing now—and I want to tell you, Dr. Lash, I appreciate your doing it. I didn’t read any of her charts. I went into it blind, wanted to be entirely fresh. Belle was never a diagnosis to me, not a borderline, not an eating disorder, not a compulsive or antisocial disorder. That’s the way I approach all my patients. And I hope I will never become a diagnosis to you.
