Session 18. Airpods in, tumbler beside me, notebook open, coffee close. I'd just walked around for a bit and stretched before sitting down. Same routine. But something felt different before this one. The sessions had gone quiet lately. Not uncomfortable quiet, but just steady. Nothing visible was shifting. She was showing up. We were talking. But nothing looked like progress from where I was sitting. No turning points. Just her coming in each week and talking about her life.

I wasn't depressed. I wasn't in crisis. I just wasn't myself anymore. This is why I started therapy and why you don't have to hit rock bottom. The quiet grapple of feeling weighed down and holding together lives in the mind forever. From never having to ask this question, I started therapy when I did hit rock bottom. Lonely, lost, and trying to make sense of what was happening to me. Who am I becoming? I didn't have any major traumatic experience, but the small incidents just