Learned helplessness
The belief that you can't affect the outcome — formed through repeated experiences in which you genuinely couldn't.
How it shows up
You stop trying, even when circumstances have changed and trying would work. From outside it looks like laziness or lack of will; from inside it is a logical conclusion from past experience.
What we do with it in therapy
The belief doesn’t change through argument but through a contrary experience — so we start small, where the influence is unambiguous and quick.
See also
Infertility and distress
Long waiting, procedures and losses that weigh on the individual and on the couple.
The inner critic
The voice in you that comments, evaluates and condemns — often in the words of someone from your past.
Window of tolerance
The range of arousal in which you can feel and think at the same time; above it you're overwhelmed, below it numb.
