I just looked up the thesaurus entry for therapy

Analysis: as in lit analysis? Will my life be analyzed through a feminist lens? It sure as hell would be boring if you approached it biographically, maybe use queer theory?

Cure: my therapist emphasizes that there is no cure for OCD. She says the goal is to reduce the harmful impacts on my life. I’d actually like a cure, please, and thank you.

Healing: this has a zeny peace and love vibe and to that, I ask, why do I end each session searching the floor for the guts that are strewn about the room. I really question where the healing comes in as I jam intestines back into the open maw of my torso.

Medicine: yes please prescribe it all to me. Oh… I’ve maxed out the dosage of the one with the long name that begins with an f? Maybe we can try the one with the ads on the radio? Does marijuana come in a generic form covered by my insurance?

Remedy: like an antidote to the brain demons? I’ve tried to cast them away, but I couldn’t find a herd of pigs, and my cat told me to fuck off when I asked if she’d take them.

Therapeutics: go home Webster, you’ve stayed out past your bedtime if you think a synonym for a word is just another version of it.

I read this poem to my therapist, she took it literally, tried to answer the questions I posed. At least that’s what I’m telling myself she meant by, “these are insightful thoughts, how about we go through them one by one and discuss why you feel this way?”

Anyone know a therapist that takes insurance?

Dane Lyn (they/them) is an educator, poet, and glitter enthusiast with an MFA from Lindenwood University. Find them in Southern California, advocating for disabled rights, constructing blanket forts, caring for their menagerie of teens, snakes, lizards, dogs, and cats, and ridding their shoes of beach sand. They’re on Twitter and Instagram at @danelynisme