23 May 2025
Friday. A SECOND PRACTICE. On George Street! In Sydney! I have bought a new clipboard and a second lilac bow tie, so I can be in two places at once, aesthetically.
The new cell is just like my Northbridge cell: the padding, the chain, the speaker that crackles exactly where I like it to crackle. The patients wake in the dark and I welcome them, and it turns out that Sydney people say “oh no” in very much the same way that Perth people do. Isn’t that lovely? We are all one family, really.
The neighbours are familiar. The gentleman with the coffins is just along the corridor, and so is the Butcher, with his table for eight and his endless shopping. Three of us under one roof. The gamesmasters have started calling the corridor “the family wing”. I have asked them not to. I have asked them, cheerfully, to keep doing it.
Every session is private, which I insist on. A patient should only ever share the cell with people they brought. It is so much better for the group dynamic.
First Sydney notes: four patients, very loud, extremely quick. I have underlined “quick” three times and added a sad face.
— Your Therapist
