Zine Therapy Issues 1 & 2

At the end of 2022 my therapist broke up with me, claiming that I had the tools, resources, and willpower to maintain a path forward with the skills we learned during our time together. (She's probably right, but I am not confident.) I struggled for a bit until a friend suggested monthly check-ins to replace those appointments, and I thought that was a great idea! Being me, I turned it into a project.

Each month, I answer a set of questions about my recent well-being, what I've been thinking lately, and how to improve the things I have control over. You'll be reading about my process and life, but my hope is that the approach can help others who are unable to go to therapy for whatever reason. Perhaps you're interested in seeing how someone actively works through their difficulties without the help of a professional...

Issues 1 & 2 focus on getting this started and working through some issues I've been having at work.

Who you are reading about: I am almost 40, they/them, and my name is Max. I work on a support team at an edtech company but writing is my passion. I was depressed for most of my life and didn't get a real handle on things until my 30s. I'm still learning how to live and refining how I want to live.

I have a movement disorder called essential tremor (my hands, legs, head, and voice shake) which gets worse as I age. I'm kind of a loner (Dottie, a rebel) so I spend a lot of time alone, but if I didn't have anxiety I'd go out more. I'm highly introspective, love horror & fantasy, am spooky all year, and I have a young-senior calico cat named Zenny. Single, no kids, great social community with lots of wonderful people.

Zine resume: Letters to My Therapist (6 issues), Self-Care for Creatives (2 issues), Creativity for Introverts (6 issues), Good Company: Mail Zine (2 issues), and others. I've also had pages in a few Static zine issues and Who We Were (vol II). At one point, Letters to My Therapist was distro'd by Fluxxii (which no longer exists).