jamesq | Five Years on the Couch

So I went to my therapist this morning and talked about - well, not much. This, she tells me, is a sign that you don't really need therapy anymore.

We spent the rest of the session going over what my initial goals for therapy were, and whther I thought those goals had been met. Also, what signs I should watch out for that indicated that I was backsliding. So all in all a productive session. And hopefully my last.

Does this mean I'm not broken anymore? No - just that I'm more or less put back together and have the tools to keep myself that way. A little cracked, but still useful. This will be a lifelong struggle since the first half of my life was burning the wrong sort of neural pathways into my head.

This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." - Leo McGarry (John Spencer), The West Wing - Noël

I'm going to try awfully hard not to fall back into the hole. If I do slip, at least I know the way out again.