Therapist N − 3
“Do you think sometimes you worry too much about things?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can work yourself into a panic over things that aren’t that important.”
“Maybe they don’t seem important to you.”
“Last time we talked, you had a paper due in your history class.”
“So?”
“You’d finished the paper. You’d proofread it four times. It wasn’t due for another three days. But you were still driving yourself crazy with worry.”
“Do you think you should use that expression—driving myself crazy?”
“You know what I mean, Tess. A lot of college freshmen take things too lightly. You tend to take things too seriously. What could I do that would make you relax and enjoy life a little more?”
“Put me in a universe where nothing bad ever happens.”
“I know a lot of bad things have happened to you, Tess. Your father’s death, your mother withholding affection…”
“Is that what they call it now? When your mother denies your very existence, it’s ‘withholding affection’? And my father’s death was my fault, by the way.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Tess. We’ve been over this before. And not everything is bad. There are good things in your life you could concentrate on. You’re a good student. You’re smart and self-motivated.”
“How do you know it’s not my worrying that motivates me?”
“We’re controlling your OCD pretty well now.”
“That’s supposed to go in the ‘good’ column? That the voices talk to me less often?”
“I’m just saying, there are good parts of your life you could focus on. Vivian loves you.”
“Yeah, the one person in the world who loves me just might be certifiable. That’s a positive for sure.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t help in these conversations, Tess. We’ve talked about this.”
“Sorry. Do you really think I worry too much?”
“I do.”
“But how do you know which things to worry about and which things to let go?”
“Let’s start by picking one thing. One thing that you’ve been worried about that you’re not going to worry about anymore.”
“One thing?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“How about your grades?”
“All of them?!”
“Okay, your history grade. You’ve got an A average. You know the material cold. Why don’t you try not worrying about that class?”
“I guess I could try. But what if my grade slips?”
“If your grade slips, the world will not come to an end.”
“What if it really slips? What if I fail?”
“If it goes down more than five points, send your professor to me and I’ll tell her it was my fault.”
“Can you really tell which things are worth obsessing over and which things aren’t important? In your life, I mean.”
“Most of the time I can, yes.”
“Must be nice.”