11/26/2025
If your brain has ever turned one tiny interaction into a 27-step emotional flowchart… you’re in good company.
A lot of my anxious, intuitive, people-pleasing clients learned to run full mental simulations before they respond to anything — texts, emails, a casual “hey, can we talk?” It’s a pattern that usually comes from having to anticipate other people’s reactions for a long time.
In therapy, we slow it down. We get curious about the part of you that’s trying to keep things calm and predictable. And we explore what it feels like to respond from a more grounded place instead of a rehearsed one.
If this feels familiar, you’re not alone — and there’s nothing wrong with the way you learned to cope.
Follow for more anxious-gay-overthinker humor and gentle reminders that connection doesn’t require mental chess.
***rtherapist