possibly result from revealing to either Brian or Claudia the details of her bygone romance with Kevin. Amy's refusal to revisit their years together also sent a clear message to Kevin and drew a line he knew he could not cross. She did, however, observe his and Claudia's relationship with a fair amount of interest. Amy was particularly curious about how Claudia handled the inevitable "other" women in Kevin's life.

One of the reasons Amy came back to therapy was that in spite of her clarity about her own relationships, she had become aware of moments of envy, in particular toward Claudia and the many expensive and exquisite gifts she received from Kevin. Amy knew that the work she had done in therapy was irrevocable. She could not go back, Kevin had not changed, and she liked her own marriage. But she was surprised to find that she felt envious of what looked like an abundance of gifts from Kevin to Claudia.

Eventually, as we worked on strengthening Amy's sense of her worth and her values, she found out more about the context of Claudia's gifts. They had been "I'm sorry" gifts for his affairs, Claudia disclosed. Claudia's revelation came as she was building the case for her divorce from Kevin. "You know," she told Amy, "all the beautiful, expensive jewelry I have, even the boats, the vacations, the cars, the houses, they're all gifts he gave me to make up for screwing around with other women. I'm really disgusted by it all." In that instant, any envy Amy had ever felt for Claudia's exquisite, extravagant possessions instantly evaporated.

Professional observations: Amy clearly had developed strong and appropriate boundaries in her relationships. Even though Amy had worked hard to develop values she felt she could build her life on, she was "human." The pull of "worldly" values is strong. The negative emotion of envy had caused Amy pain beyond her ability to cope without outside help, and the emotional pain of the occasional envy she felt was enough to motivate her to examine her life and to work through her feelings. A conscious review of chosen values and priorities is often enough to shed the emotion of envy.

Amy's story also illustrates the relative value of wealth. Despite being an inheritor herself, she had far less money than did Kevin and yet she "felt" wealthy most of

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