There's definitely a progression, but I can't fit it into stages. Mostly, for me, there's a lot of circling the drain (core issues), interrupted by current day crises that link directly to the core issues, more circling and sinking, crises...

Somewhere in there, my therapist's responses and steadiness help me make sense of it, and also provide some support that feels very solid. I don't know what comes next. Probably more chaos and coming up for air. It's a very long, tedious process, but there are days when I can see/feel small changes, and that's what keeps me going.