I am a lot like you in that I get caught up in the grip of strong emotions and it's hard to think logically.
Later I can look and have some perspective. But in the moment, everything feels very real.
I really think, from what you've described, that your therapist seems like a good guy who genuinely cares for you.
I hope you can talk this whole thing through with him...what would it have meant if he had call? What did it mean that he didn't call? What was he hoping to give you with that text? What do you think/feel about that?
I have found a lot of help through the DBT exercises in terms of mindfulness and riding emotions out like riding a wave. I don't know if you're familiar with that or have ever looked at any of the DBT workbooks.
You say "the same old issue again," but in my experience that is how therapy is. We revisit the same thing again and again, in different ways. Each time it has had a little less pull on me, a little less control. This is the "working through," coming at something again and again, from a bunch of different directions. This is the core work of therapy. Or at least this has how it has been for me. So hang in there! Easy words to say, harder to do, but it really sounds like you are doing the work of therapy. It is work, and it is hard, and folks who have been there --like me-- are pulling for you.