First Session: Broen

Valli vastly preferred when people came to him willingly. People pushed by their family or friends tended to be more hesitant and less self aware. People who were forced there by mandatory therapy? That was a whole other mess.

Valli had seats outside his office, but people didn't often use them. Most preferred to pace in an attempt to be less conspicuous, so he was genuinely surprised when he popped his head outside the door and found someone sitting on them.

Tired looking, was his first impression. Like he'd been through the wringer.

He gave him his usual smile anyway, stepping inside and waving Broen in.

"I assume you're my two o'clock?" He asked. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Most of my patients are new," Valli confirmed as he closed the door behind them, moving in to grab a seat on a chair. Not an armchair. Just a chair, like something anyone would sit at. Armchairs, he'd found, looked imposing. "So I tend to run through the basics no matter what, just to make sure everyone knows what's going on. Before we really start, three disclosures. First, I have a low-level aura effect that makes me look a bit more well put together than I actually am. It's not something I can turn off, and it's not something that should effect your thought process any more than me being a bit more vigorous with my hair brush every morning, but I do prefer to disclose it to avoid any possible confusion."

Simple enough.

"Second, if I see you in public, I won't acknowledge you unless you acknowledge me first. While I do wish mental health treatment was more accepted, I recognize many people are uncomfortable with it. Third, anything you say in here is strictly confidential. The only times I can break that is if someone is in immediate danger. Otherwise, it's just between the two of us."

Disclosures done, Valli seemed to relax slightly.

"My name is Valli Bryndisarson--you can call me what you'd like though. Valli, Mr. Bryndisarson, take your pick. Generally speaking, the first session is getting to know one another and why you decided to choose therapy - it's a lot of questions and talking, and generally not like what you'd see on TV. As with most things, they tend to... dramatize it a fair bit."

Alright. Well, he was starting off right in the thick of it, wasn't he? Valli raised an eyebrow, his surprise showing for a moment, and then he took a second to recompose himself.

Right to the point then.

"I assume you're expecting a sense of... revulsion. A sense of this is bad I shouldn't do this. And some people do experience that. However, it isn't necessarily true. Not having an inherent revulsion isn't the same thing as suicidal thoughts - what matters is how often you think of it, and your reaction to it. Someone who sees a mention of suicide and thinks 'yes, that's a thing' but then decides it isn't for them is just as mentally healthy as someone who sees a mention of suicide and things 'oh no, I could never do that!'. It's one of the subjects I wish was more... apparent to people, but it's obviously a difficult topic to talk about."

Valli nodded, his expression considerably more somber. That had effectively been his next question. "It's always concerning when there's a noticeable increase in the number of thoughts of suicide. Did you notice the increase at any particular point, or was it a gradual change over time?"

It was often difficult to tell if it was suicide as an escape from an awful life situation, or suicide as an escape from life itself.

Valli was vaguely familiar with the attack. Considering the scale of it, it would take an almost purposeful effort to not be. Anyone who read the newspaper or was even slightly aware of what was going on would know about it, and he nodded carefully.

"The feeling of being punished for doing the right thing can be... difficult. I would say it's one of the major components of a lot of religions, the idea that there will be a reward that you can point to at the end of the day. However, while the truth is that bad deeds often have more tangible benefits, good deeds have more... spread out benefits. Ones that aren't immediately notable. People are kinder to those who do good deeds. People are more accepting and willing to forgive. There are social benefits to doing good things which are hard to measure."