Across the couch,

I've been listening for more than a decade.

photo by Mark Adriane

I've been listening to women and men — young and old — witnessing their unfolding and walking beside them as they take tenuous steps toward feeling better.

I've noticed a few things:

• You are not broken. Never have been. Never will be.

• Those things you hate about yourself? They make you beautiful and unique ( ... and just may be cause for celebration).

• You CAN go from I'm not OK because this crappy thing happened to I'm OK, even though this crappy thing happened.

• There are strong parts of you — no matter how small they feel at times.