1/5 The goal of psychotherapy is to insert spaces for reflection where they have not previously existed and thereby create opportunities to know ourselves more fully, connect with others more deeply, and live life more congruently.

2/5 Psychotherapy is about slowing things down—so we can begin to see and understand the patterns that otherwise happen quickly, automatically, without reflection or awareness

3/5 Discussions about optimizing or maximizing efficiency reveal a misunderstanding of psychotherapy at the most fundamental level. We find ourselves in difficulties because we cannot slow down to reflect. The rush to optimize every facet of life is the disease, not the cure.

4/5 In the spaces, in the pauses we don’t otherwise allow to occur, lie choices we did not previously recognize as choices. In those unrecognized spaces lies freedom—freedom from repeating same painful, self-defeating patterns, freedom to do things differently, freedom to become

5/5 a better version of ourselves. This does not & cannot happen on a predetermined production schedule. The relevant question is not, how efficient (i.e., quick & cheap) can we make it. The relevant questions are, how self-aware do we wish to be? How whole do we wish to become?