Squiggle, is there a reason you think you can't talk about everyday stuff and work on your triggers in therapy? It doesn't sound like your T has said that you must work only on deep matters from your past but that she is open to the other. You are the one keeping yourself from doing this. Why not try it a few times? Experiencing your T's openness and helpfulness with the everyday stuff and triggers will probably be reinforcing and then maybe you won't feel so pressured to do deep work every session.

I think just tell your T what you would like to work on now and go for it! If deeper issues come up later, you can return to that kind of work.

Sometimes therapy gets so intense that I have needed to have a "break" for a few sessions and work on more surface topics, which is still valuable work. And often the surface topics tend to uncover deeper things, anyway, so you get to where you need to go, in any case.

My T told me once very early in therapy that I don't need to come to therapy and "perform." By that I think he meant it doesn't have to be big, dramatic, intense, and earth-shattering each time. It can be small and sometimes that leads to the most wonderful moments and breakthroughs. Surprise! I have said more than once to T at the close of a session, "I had no idea that was going to happen today." Healing can very unexpectedly be around every corner.