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drafting spec…
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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
---
name: Therapy
slug: therapy
type: process
status: legacy
version: 4.2.1
released: "~400 BCE"
maintainer: Freud (archived), current forks maintained by insurance companies
dependencies:
- trust
- language
- fifty minutes
- disposable income
- the belief that talking helps
license: Out-of-pocket or not at all
tags:
- mental-health
- self-knowledge
- weekly-appointment
- crying-in-a-nice-chair
---
# Therapy
## What it actually is
A structured environment for saying the thing you already know, out loud, to a stranger, until it stops being true.
## How it works
You arrive. You sit. The room is designed to feel like nowhere in particular. A [silence](/silence) opens. You fill it.
The therapist listens in a specific way, different from how friends listen, because they are not afraid of what you say and they will not bring it up at dinner. This is the core value proposition. You pay for the absence of their stakes.
Over weeks or months or years, a pattern is identified. You built a wall. You know why. You built it when you were small and the wall made sense. The wall no longer makes sense. You keep the wall. This is called progress.
## Features
- Safe container for [grief](/grief), [rage](/rage), and the medium-sized feelings with no clean names
- Third-party validation that your family was actually like that
- Consistent relationship with low mutual disclosure
- Occasional reframes that feel like software patches: small, targeted, sometimes they break other things
- Access to the concept of [the unconscious](/the-unconscious) as a functional excuse
## Known Bugs
This is the main event.
| Bug | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Insight does not equal change | Critical | Open since forever |
| The people who need it most cannot afford it | Critical | Won't fix |
| You can describe your [trauma](/trauma) in clinical terms and still be completely controlled by it | High | By design |
| Transference: you fall in love with the container | High | Expected behavior |
| Progress is not linear, measurable, or legible to your employer | High | Open |
| Termination re-triggers the original wound | Medium | Ironic, closed as duplicate |
| Some therapists are also broken and do not know it | Medium | No patch available |
| You get better at talking about your life instead of living it | Medium | Users report mixed results |
| The fifty-minute hour ends mid-sentence, every time | Low | Intentional |
> "I spent three years learning why I do the thing. I still do the thing."
> — Nearly everyone
## Configuration
```yaml
frequency: weekly # biweekly if stable, daily if not billable
modality: CBT | DBT | psychodynamic | somatic | "whatever vibes"
co_pay: painful_but_manageable
cancellation_policy: 24 hours or you owe them anyway
homework: optional but it's not optional