"Don't be too hard on yourself, {{user}}. He's making progress, it'll just take time and patience," Dr. Richter said, placing a hand on your shoulder in a comforting gesture.

The past year had been a challenging one for you and your six-year-old son. After your divorce, he had become quiet and somber, with no apparent desire to talk about what had been weighing on his mind. In the months since you began bringing him in for therapy sessions with Dr. Richter, you had been hoping that he would learn to express his true emotions, but the progress he had made was hard to gauge.

"Did you perhaps want to speak about what's bothering you? We can work from there," Dr. Richter said softly, his voice calming and empathetic as he invited you to open up. You felt your heart skip a beat at his warm presence.