Every so often in therapy, someone walks into the room carrying a weight so heavy it seems to fill the space with them. This client—let’s call him David—arrived at what he described as “absolute rock bottom.” His marriage had ended abruptly, his home needed extensive restoration before it could be sold, and despite being a skilled carpenter, he found himself doubting every move he made.
Life felt like a closed corridor. “I can’t see a future,” he said in our first session. “I’m trapped—just patching up a house that won’t even be mine.”
Session 1: Meeting Despair Where It Lives
He felt broken, exhausted, and alone. The house he needed to restore became a symbol of everything he believed he had failed at. Even though he had the craftsmanship and ability, his confidence was gone. Despair had hollowed out the space where hope used to live.
But he showed up. That is where the shift began.
Session 2–4: Rebuilding From the Inside Out
As we worked together, something subtle began to change.
Instead of focusing solely on the rubble of what had fallen apart, we started exploring the parts of him that had always been strong—the resourceful builder, the man who could create with his hands, the person who longed for simplicity, freedom, and a deeper connection with life.
Piece by piece, he rebuilt not just a house, but himself.
He learned to challenge the stories that kept him small.
He began to trust his own skills again.
He started imagining—not the ruins of a life—but the possibility of a new one.
Session 5–6: The Future Opens
By the sixth session, the transformation was unmistakable.
The house was completed and sold.
But more importantly, he felt complete in a way he hadn’t believed was possible.
He’d met someone new—a partner who shared his goals, his rhythm, his dreams. Someone who got him, in that deep, unforced way that feels like exhaling after holding your breath for too long.
He bought a campervan. They set off toward Norway, choosing a life built around what mattered most: simplicity, nature, freedom, and joy.
A Life Rewoven
Now he wakes up to sweeping coastlines, quiet forests, big skies—views that change every morning and feel like a reward for holding on during the hardest chapter of his life.
He sends photos sometimes:
sunlight spilling onto the bed of the campervan, coffee steaming in his hands, the world quiet and wide before him.
In six sessions, he didn’t just climb out of rock bottom—he redesigned the entire landscape of his life.
The Truth at the Heart of This Story
Change doesn’t always require years.
Sometimes it requires honesty, courage, and support at the moment when life feels most hopeless.
Sometimes it begins with simply showing up.
