The Anxious 'Nothing Burger.'

Today, I bring you the Anxious ‘Nothing Burger.’

I texted my therapist yesterday afternoon, and she did not respond. I have thought about her lack of response approximately 10 times.

The knee-jerk “reason” I have assigned to her lack of response:

“She is mad at me.”

Why in the world would my therapist be mad at me? I have no logical answer. I am a great client. I use her preferred payment method. I am always early. I hardly ever cancel appointments, which I schedule consistently. I always, always do my “homework” and “reading assignments.”

Self-talk this morning:

Okay, Lauren. This is a “nothing burger” – a perfect opportunity to work on your anxious attachment.

So, I run my reason through a “truth filter.”

My therapist is mad at me. Is that true?

The answer is no. And IF she is mad at me, that is a “her” issue, not a “me” issue, considering she has not communicated with me.

Next question.

What could be the TRUE reason she isn’t responding?

There could be dozens. She saw the text while driving and meant to respond later and forgot. She doesn’t know the answer to my question and is waiting to run it by her peer during work hours. She legally cannot answer the question via text and will talk to me about it during my next appointment. She has been busy. She lost her phone.

Yesterday, during my appointment, we talked about applying “truth filters” to “nothing burger” situations. Once I get enough practice with that, I will be able to apply my truth filters to more emotionally involved situations.

This is just ONE of many, many things I work on in therapy, and if you don't have an anxious attachment style, it probably makes little sense to you. But often, my "intrusive thoughts" take over my silly brain.

And just like everything else, it takes practice! I can see and feel my progress this morning, so I felt inspired to share ... Just as one would share a weight loss accomplishment. I am losing the weight of my intrusive thoughts.

Now, I can move on with my day freely.