Home > Individual Counseling > Saul’s Counseling Story
Dalila appeared on the Zoom screen looking frazzled.
“What’s going on?” her therapist asked. “Everything going okay?”
The floodgates opened.
“I just can’t do it. I can’t do it all! My friends want to do happy hours, my husband wants to go on dinner dates, my kids want to swim in every available lake, my extended family wants me to fly out to visit, my church wants me to start leading youth group again, my job wants me to work from the office for part of the week — it’s too much! I’m going crazy!”
Dalila has always had a busy schedule, and she and her therapist had already spent several sessions talking through her frustrations.
“What’s different this week?” her therapist asked.
“What’s different now is people seem to think the whole world is open again, so they want to make up for lost time. I’m overwhelmed. But I also feel very guilty because I think I should be able to handle this. I used to be able to handle it!”
Once Dalila realized it was not just her problem, that a lot of people were going through the same thing, she was able to sort through her social options and begin to put together a summer schedule that balanced time spent with friends, family, and work. Her therapist helped her plan the best way to establish boundaries with her extended family (letting them know that travel is not an option right now for her, but they were welcome to come visit) and clarify her work responsibilities with her employer (weekly attendance for an in-person meeting was required).
Recognizing the need to be patient with herself, Dalila also made sure to balance social time with personal alone/quiet time.
Sometimes it’s important to have someone in your life who knows you, someone you trust, available to offer reassurance and help you identify and implement self-care strategies.
The case studies on this website are fictionalized accounts based on real situations and people Peak to Peak Counseling’s therapists have been honored to work with over the years.
