Another session

Last afternoon was my fourth meeting in the program, and somehow each session manages to go deeper than the last. It was one of those afternoons where you walk in expecting “just another step,” but end up leaving with something that stays in your chest long after you’ve driven home.

We spent the session exploring a set of questions from “The Elephant in the Living Room” by Tommy Hellsten, a book that digs into the hidden emotional landscapes families carry, often without ever naming them. The idea was to reflect on patterns, silence, and the roles we grew into long before we understood what they meant.

But the real heart of the evening came from one of the participants, a woman who shared her story with a kind of honesty that felt almost sacred.
She spoke about her childhood, about experiences she had carried alone for decades, things she had never told anyone before last afternoon and within this group.

There was no drama in her voice, no attempt to impress or shock.
Just truth, raw, painful, and beautifully human.

Listening to her made me think about how much people carry quietly. How many battles happen behind calm faces. And how much courage it truly takes to speak out loud the things that once made you feel small.

It reminded me why I’m here.
Why we’re all here.

This program isn’t just about alcohol, it’s about the stories behind it. It’s about understanding how we got here, and finding a way to walk forward without pretending anymore.

Four meetings in, and I’m starting to realise something important: Healing doesn’t always begin with solutions. Sometimes it begins with someone else’s truth giving you permission to explore your own.