A Letter to My Clients of 2021

To my dear clients of 2021;

I want to thank you all for working with me this year.  We have been through quite a year and somehow made it to the other side.

We have laughed and cried and been furious and confused.  I am so honored that you have trusted me with such personal information.  I know it has not been easy to open up to this middle-aged, sometimes silly, but always genuine woman on a screen and yet you have done it week after week sharing your truths and fears and believing that I could help you make some sense out of all of these big feelings.

I know it would have been better if we could have sat together in my cozy office; you on my comfy gray couch and me on the ripped leather chair that I kept meaning to replace.  I would have offered you water or tea, we would have been surrounded by the colorful inspirational messages decorating my walls and we could have done our work face to face.

But alas, that damn Covid thing kept us apart.  Instead we logged on to Doxy and most of the time we were able to hear and see one another.  There were times we switched platforms, times we talked on the phone and a couple of times we watched each other on the screen while speaking into the phone for audio.  You met me from your rooms, decks, offices and cars.    Some of you were walking during our talks and others logged on from beach vacations. You teenagers graced me from your tousled beds often clicking the link as you opened your eyes with bed head and morning breath, and yet you were still there.

Whatever the method, you showed up. You opened up and you did the work.  Life is hard and life in a pandemic has proven to be exponentially so.  Whether you are an adopted teen, a college student or one of my adult clients, you shared your stories and let me help you dissect them in hopes of better understanding.  Although we desperately tried, we couldn’t always resolve the confusion; why did my birth mother relinquish me, how could that college reject me despite my exceptional application, why did my spouse cheat?

The depression, anxiety and/or grief are heavy, painful and also, very scary.  I feel so privileged that you allowed me in to see these parts of you and only hope that my presence allowed you a little relief from the lonely, awful pain that accompanies mental illness.  

We all have more work to do, and yet, your huge efforts and beautiful progress give me so much hope. 

My personal difficulties with the pandemic and the isolation of closing my office have been greatly diminished by you allowing me to work with you.  Engaging with you while digging deep into my therapeutic tool box in hopes of helping you heal have enlightened my days despite this foul virus that has taken so much from all of us.

I wish you all more joy and laughter in 2022 and pray that we all see health and some freedom from the disease in the near future.

All my best,

Laurie