Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 420 Taking Chances in Psychological Counseling
The visitor said, "That person... is not important in himself."

“If it were in private, I wouldn’t hold a grudge against him no matter what conflict we had. It’s not worth wasting time and energy on someone like that.”

"But because of the conflict with him, I ended up showing my bad side in front of other people, which I felt was not worth it and I was very upset."

The visitor began nodding rapidly and in short bursts: “So I think about it from time to time.”

Nan Zhuren glanced at the other person's expression. Good, at least they didn't try to cover it up with evasive words.

He secretly noted down the other person's answer and current reaction.

Next, Nan Zhuren will try to steer the conversation to a more crucial point.

When did this upsetting incident of arguing with someone in public happen?

The visitor thought for a moment and said, "It's been recently, I guess."

Nan Zhuren didn't speak, but instead raised an eyebrow in a puzzled gesture.

The visitor added, "It was after I started having insomnia and difficulty concentrating that things like this started to bother me a lot, and I would think about them from time to time."

This is a very interesting way of putting it—"similar things".

Nan Zhuren was tempted to grasp this keyword, but he suppressed the urge, because compared to what he was about to explore, this "similar thing" was not so important.

"You said you think about similar things from time to time, so for this one thing, when you think about it, how does it come to mind?"

The visitor was taken aback and repeated Nan Zhuren's words: "How did you appear?"

Nan Zhuren anticipated that the visitor might not understand the question, so she took the opportunity to explain: "During our conversation just now, I already knew that you would recall this matter in the form of 'images' in your mind, right?"

The visitor affirmed, "Yes."

Nan Zhuren described her question in more detail, giving several examples: "So how do these images appear? Let me give you an example—it's when you're bored and your mind wanders, triggering some keyword, so it suddenly appears?"

"Or did you encounter something similar while doing your work? Or did you experience similar situations in your daily life, and find yourself in a state of 'being reminded of something by the scene'?"

"Or perhaps, it just keeps recurring for no reason?"

Each of these situations corresponds to a hidden problem.

The visitor thought for a moment and replied, "Sometimes... I think about it when I see related things, it also comes to mind when I'm reminded of something, and it sometimes pops up unexpectedly when I'm not doing anything..."

Great, the keyword that Nan Zhuren wanted has appeared.

"'Occasionally it will suddenly appear'?" Nan Zhuren asked rhetorically, repeating the question verbatim.

The visitor nodded, but then shook his head: "No, that's not right, this couldn't have happened so suddenly..."

"Could you describe in detail how you suddenly appeared?" Nan Zhuren ignored the visitor's additional question.

The visitor paused for a moment.

At this point, his rhythm was completely following Nan Zhuren's lead.

"Well... maybe while I was in class, a picture suddenly flashed through my mind, a picture of some... things." The visitor swallowed as he said this.

Nan Zhuren pressed further, "What kind of thing is it?"

"It's just... some things."

The visitor began to stutter.

Nan Zhuren rested his chin on one hand and said in a drawn-out tone, "Let me guess... it's about what happened five months ago, right?"

Nan Zhuren continued, "Is it because of that incident that you're now troubled by things like 'arguing with others in public'?"

The visitor licked his lips, picked up the water glass on the table, and drank it all in one gulp.

He then adjusted his hat, where a fine layer of sweat had formed near his hairline.

The visitor said, "Teacher, what I want is a way to improve my sleep and concentration. How about I tell you something else I'm thinking about? After I tell you, you might understand my situation better."

Before Nan Zhuren could react, the visitor very quickly began to recall the next story.

"It was during a rainy day. I had brought an umbrella, but when I was about to go back to the dormitory, I saw two girls from my class looking at the rain in front of the teaching building. I figured they probably didn't have umbrellas."

“I wanted to lend them my umbrella, but I was worried it would be too abrupt. Because there are more girls than boys at our school, I usually pay special attention to social etiquette when I'm with them. I was worried that I would be accused of not having ‘boundaries’ because of this, so I didn’t lend them my umbrella this time.”

"But afterwards I felt regretful, worried that they would get wet in the rain..."

Nan Zhuren listened quietly until the very end, when the visitor's speech began to show obvious inconsistencies, before interrupting him:
"Zhihao...can I call you that?"

The visitor paused for a moment, then nodded.

Nan Zhuren said, “You must have heard the saying ‘treating the symptoms but not the root cause.’ In psychology, your insomnia and lack of concentration are the ‘symptoms’; while the cause of these two problems is the ‘root cause.’”

"The reason I'm telling you this isn't because you don't know this principle; quite the opposite—I've discovered that you do."

Looking into Nan Zhihao's eyes, Nan Zhuren initiated the strongest confrontation of the day's consultation.

"You are fully aware of when you will change, and you are very proactive in seeking ways to solve your problems."

"However, you have always had doubts, or rather, wishful thinking, about what you need to do."

Nan Zhuren watched as the visitor's expression gradually changed: "At first, you only talked about physical problems. When I asked you 'what you were thinking about,' images actually flashed through your mind immediately, but you seemed to suppress them and then racked your brains to think of something relatively less important—"

"Including your 'public argument' just now, and your 'regret for not giving me an umbrella'."

"But I must tell you, these two things are just 'symptoms,' and intervening in them will not fundamentally alleviate your problem. Even if I teach you methods like meditation, it won't work—in fact, I believe you've already tried it, haven't you?"

Nan Zhuren glanced at the wall clock.

The clock ticked for approximately forty-five minutes.

　Can you guess what the visitor's problem is?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)