I always feel like I’m the one taking up too much space. Even when I don’t speak, I feel like I’ve already done something wrong.

Session Goal:

Begin exploring the dominant narrative of shame and self-erasure.

Milestones:

Externalization of the problem (naming the story)

Tips for Therapist:

Invite Aiko to describe the influence of shame as if it were a character or entity in her life. Use language like 'When Shame shows up...' to begin separating it from her identity.

There was a time in school where I stopped answering questions. People would laugh even when I was right.

Session Goal:

Explore the historical development of the problem-saturated story.

Milestones:

Story deconstruction and locating the origin of internalized messages

Tips for Therapist:

Help Aiko explore social, cultural, and relational factors that contributed to the story of 'not enoughness.' Gently challenge the idea that the problem originated within her.

I used to draw stories in the margins of my notebooks — ones where the quiet girl saved the world. But I stopped. It felt silly.

Session Goal:

Identify moments of resistance or contradiction to the dominant problem narrative.

Milestones:

Unique outcomes and thickening alternative narratives

Tips for Therapist:

Affirm Aiko’s creativity as a form of counter-narrative. Help her give voice to times when she acted outside the influence of shame, even briefly.

I don’t want to be invisible anymore. But I also don’t know who I am outside of hiding.

Session Goal:

Support Aiko in articulating values that reflect her preferred sense of self.

Milestones:

Reauthoring identity with values language

Tips for Therapist:

Invite Aiko to describe the kind of person she wants to be known as. Help her link actions (past or imagined) to core values like courage, care, or creativity.

I spoke up at work last week. Just a small thing. But afterward I felt… kind of proud. And also scared.

Session Goal:

Reinforce alternative stories of selfhood through real-life action.

Milestones:

Thickening preferred identity narratives through lived experience

Tips for Therapist:

Celebrate Aiko’s action. Explore how it aligns with her evolving narrative. Support reflection on what this moment says about who she is becoming.

I’m not fully there yet. But I don’t only see the shame anymore. There’s something else. A beginning, maybe.

Session Goal:

Integrate the reauthored narrative and reflect on the journey.

Milestones:

Story consolidation and narrative witnessing

Tips for Therapist:

Invite Aiko to reflect on how her relationship to shame and identity has changed. Consider witnessing practices (e.g., writing a letter to her past self) or celebrating preferred stories through metaphor.