Granite, what she is saying is that you are finally getting to the root of your issues, and it is in talking about those most difficult issues where you will ultimately have the most healing. What I hear her telling you is that she absolutely wants you to continue to talk about the issues about your brother and mother because those are the issues that are really what keep pulling you down and holding you back. While the present stuff is important, much of the present issues are tied in knots with this older stuff.

This IS hard work and when you are in the midst of it, it is pretty normal to be really, really down about it. I remember feeling just mortified and sort of paralyzed when I finally started getting to the roots of my issues. But the more I revealed and processed through that, the more that weight and that paralysis lifted. Keep at it. You are doing the hardest work of therapy right now. Your therapist knows that and she isn't tired of hearing about it; heck, you just finally started talking about it.