Joanna Lovinger was recently featured on the podcast OK Storytime, where she offered her perspective as a therapist. In the episode, OK Storytime host Sophia reads posts from listeners with heartbreaking stories about adoption and being expected to give up creative dreams in favor of caring for family.

What I’ve learned as a therapist:

One valuable lesson I’ve have learned about therapy is that the greatest predictors of success are a client’s unwavering consistency - that is the willingness to show up every week, whether they feel like it or not, with an openness to see what unfolds. Also the willingness to process the content of our work together between our sessions, with journaling or some form of creative expression.

Maybe dissociation serves a purpose. We live in an unstable and often terrifying world.

Looked at this way, it makes sense that we’re all staring glassy-eyed into an alternate universe. The volatility and instability in the U.S. and around the world are too much for most of us to process.