17 October 2023
Tuesday. Testing, testing. Hellooo? Is this thing on? It is! Oh, how WONDERFUL.
First day in the new practice. The walls are padded, the floor is padded, the lighting is very, very low, which is soothing for everybody except the patients. The cleaners have been in with the bleach. I asked them for more. They said there was no more. I said there is always more.
I spent the afternoon finding the right voice. Too low and the patients feel frightened. Too high and they feel frightened in a different way. I want them to feel welcome, and then frightened, in that order, which is the secret of all good care.
The speaker crackles beautifully. I have decided not to have it fixed. A little crackle tells a patient that somebody, somewhere, is listening, and that he has been listening for some time.
No patients yet. Two more weeks. I have sharpened every pencil in the building and labelled the clipboard. Notes, after all, are where therapy lives.
— Your Therapist
