in challenger deep, who is carlyle in the real world?

Carlyle serves as both a group therapist for Caden and his group at Seaview, and the swabby on the pirate ship in Caden’s imagined world. Carlyle is one of the few individuals who remains relatively unchanged in his mirror form in Caden’s invented world. Carlyle helps Caden to express himself through his artwork, and to work to mentally challenge the Captain. Carlyle becomes a reliable and trusted friend to Caden, so when Carlyle is unjustly blamed and fired for Hal’s attempted suicide, Caden is very angry.