Being Real, Sober, and Distractibly Me: A Night in the Life of Louise Malyan
So here I am, award winning sober psychotherapist counsellor with ADHD, eight workshops to write for therapists, and… completely sidetracked by AI caricatures. Yep. Eight workshops. Not done. Instead, I’m drawing cats and people who look vaguely like me, giggling at my own creations, and thinking: this is fine.
Why am I telling you this? Because being real matters. A lot. I talk about lived experience in therapy for a reason. I’m not just someone who’s read the textbooks, though I’ve read plenty. I’m someone who’s been there, done that, survived it, and learned a little along the way. Sober, aware, messy at times, laughing at life even when it’s hard. And that matters in the room with a client. It matters with my supervisees. It matters in workshops.
See, ADHD isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. My brain jumps, skips, flits, and sometimes lands in a completely unrelated place. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s part of how I work. My sessions aren’t formulaic; they’re human. If a client is having a breakthrough through art, metaphor, fairy tale, sand tray, or just talking about their cat for 15 minutes, then that’s what we do. Because therapy isn’t about fitting someone into a mould. It’s about creating a space where the person in front of me can be seen, heard, and understood.
Not every counsellor is right for every client. And that’s fine too. My honesty, my humour, my creativity, my sober lens, my lived experience, that’s what I bring. That’s what makes me different. And yes, sometimes it means I get distracted making caricatures when I should be writing workshops. But it also means I notice when a client’s brain needs a little hop, skip, and jump to get to the heart of their story.
So here’s the takeaway: being real matters. Owning your quirks matters. Laughing at yourself matters. Crying when you are sad matters. And yes, ADHD brains and distractions? They can lead to joy, creativity, and connection. If my distractions make me smile, they also remind me that life, and therapy, isn’t meant to be perfectly linear. It’s meant to be lived, explored, and sometimes, illustrated in cartoon form.
If this resonates, you’re not on your own.
Pull up a chair.
I've got you.
Stay safe, stay connected and take gentle care.
Louise x
louisemalyancounselling@gmail.com
