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The mental health expert has spoken: a court-appointed
psychiatrist testified Tuesday in the Central Islip
courtroom where the divorce trial between Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook has
been unfolding, that the two children should stay with the mother.
What Dr. Stephen Herman of Manhattan, appointed by the court
to analyze Christie Brinkley, Peter Cook and their two young children, had to
say in court Tuesday, July 8, ultimately did not favor either parent in
particular.
Herman said Peter Cook is “a narcissist” and that he has “an
insatiable appetite” to have his ego fed, reports the Associated Press. He added
that the architect “needs constant reassurance that he is a terrific guy.”
Of the former Sports Illustrated model, Herman said she needs
therapy as “an outlet for her anger and feeling of betrayal” by her unfaithful
husband and questioned “her choice of male figures” and her repeated failed marriages.
Peter Cook became the fourth husband of Christie Brinkley in
1996. The couple has a 10-year-old daughter, Sailor; Cook has also adopted the
former model’s 13-year-old son, Jack, from her marriage to Richard Taubman. Christie
Brinkley is mother to a third child from her marriage to Billy Joel,
22-year-old Alexa Ray Joel.
Both estranged spouses are seeking full custody of Sailor and
Jack. They currently swap weekends with their children. Herman said in court
that the “only viable option” was for Brinkley to live with the children and
for Cook to be involved in their lives.
Christie Brinkley filed for divorce after a decade of
marriage when her husband’s extra-marital affair with his then-teenage
assistant became a tabloid scandal. The first part of the divorce trial focused
on Peter Cook’s infidelity and his online porn habit.
The 49-year-old architect has admitted and apologized for
both faults.
Herman noted Tuesday that there probably were “some problems”
before Peter Cook’s affair with his assistant and that “certainly,” initiating
that relationship “was the beginning of the end of the marriage.”
The psychiatrist also said the two children will need
counseling.
Christie Brinkley later told the court that while she may
not be “a huge fan of psychotherapy,” she was willing to do anything, “whatever
it takes to convince the court,” to receive custody of Sailor and Jack.
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