The last pine needle is vacuumed up. The tree is gone. The decorations are stuffed back in a box labeled “JOY” that feels vaguely threatening. There is nothing left to perform for. And now, the crash is real. If you feel worse instead of better, this is why and what to do about it.

Another year of just barely holding it together. Future alien archaeologists will find traces of mess, burnout, bravery, and some truly lit memes. Here’s to 2025, the gift that kept on taking.

The world’s on fire, billionaires are in space, and self-care apps are telling us to breathe through the apocalypse. So yeah, Halloween was the only logical day to open my therapy practice.