There is no “right” way to handle this
By Anna Borges | Self
In every virtual therapy session I’ve had since the new coronavirus crisis upended my life, I’ve opened with some iteration of, “I don’t even know what to talk about today. I’m feeling 6 million different things.” Each new session, I bring with me the baggage of a week that felt like a year. How can I decide between talking about how lonely I feel in isolation and how stressed I am about my family and how guilty I feel about falling behind at work and how hopeless I feel about American politics and…well, you get the idea.
On top of my sheer amount of feelings, I also often find myself dissecting them: Is it normal that I’m feeling X? Does it make me a bad person to think Y? Luckily, my therapist always assures me not only that my feelings are valid, but that she’s hearing similar sentiments from other clients right now too. And though knowing my feelings are kind of universal doesn’t solve my problems, there is some comfort in knowing that other people are also going through it.
Because I didn’t want to keep that revelation confined to my own therapy sessions, I asked therapists and other mental health professionals (over the phone and via email) what feelings and worries are coming up a lot in their sessions with clients right now. If you’re dealing with any of the following emotional experiences, more people than you might think can probably relate—and it is 100% valid.
- You’re burned out.
