Am I broken?

Some of us arrive in therapy because we've started noticing things: how others speak up easily when we stay quiet. How we say yes when we mean no. How hard it is to let people in, even when we want connection. In that noticing, a familiar voice can creep in: “What’s wrong with me?”

It can feel like everyone else got a manual for life, but we didn't. Most of the time, our reactions aren’t flaws, they’re strategies. Learned ways of coping that helped us navigate what was once a more complicated or painful world.

Whether it's staying small to avoid conflict, being helpful to stay loved, or keeping distant to stay safe—these aren't mistakes - they're adaptations. They worked. And often, they still do. Over time, though, the cost gets higher: disconnection, exhaustion, confusion, loneliness. We might start to ask: what am I trying to protect?

You're not broken. You just learned how to be strong in a way that you don't need as much anymore. Therapy is about making space to understand what formed - and deciding, gently, what still fits and what doesn’t. We don’t drop the strategies overnight. But we can begin to loosen them and listen to what's underneath.

Therapy offers a space where we’re not asked to perform, improve, or justify - only to get curious about who we’ve become, and what else might be possible.