You have big, important therapeutic goals. I'm in awe of them in writing all together like that.

But Venn diagrams, to me, sometimes try to make sense of something that is non sensible, at least in the present moment in its application. Just because you can draw two overlapping circles doesn't mean that their intersection (in application) works in real life.

My kid had a therapist for awhile who liked to jump up and write things on the whiteboard. He hated it; I thought it was kind of cool but also that writing words like "balance" didn't really make more of a difference in just saying them. "It's like he's a teacher," my kid said, which is probably more revealing of how he feels about teachers than anything else.

I like learning new concepts or greater nuance about things I know a little about, as it helps me learn about myself. Learning has definitely been a part of my therapy. What's often painful for me about learning is the neighborhood where I think you are, which is when things don't make sense to me. I feel like I can deal with anything, as long as it makes sense and I can understand it. About myself I can usually get to self understanding, about other people or events, not so much. I've had to give up on the fantasy that everything makes sense if you just understand the world people are operating within.