two months later
After many more therapy sessions, some successful and some not so successful, I think we had finally got her even more out of her shell.
We would to exercises with needles to show her that they weren't as bad as she remembered and that doctors weren't going to hurt her with them- they were there to help.
We did practice talking with nurses and even patients her age- which caused multiple anxiety attacks, but now she actually was pretty natural at it
We didn't even have to make her talk to them, she could naturally do it by herself.
"I'm gonna be honest with you." I spoke to her as we played Jenga in my office.
"I dont think you need many more sessions" I spoke to her, seeing her look to me.
"I feel like i do." She spoke, taking a piece out.
"You know you live with me, right? You don't have to have a scheduled session to talk to me about how you feel" I laughed to her.
"I know- it's just weirdly easier this way, like it feels better." She spoke
"Well if this is how you're comfortable talking, we can continue to schedule them or just tell me when you need to talk and we can come here and sit and play jenga and talk." I offered her
"Let's keep them scheduled for like two more weeks and then we can go to only doing it when I need it." She spoke and I gladly agreed.
Anything to make her feel comfortable.
"Luke?" She spoke after a moment of quietness, making me hum.
"What's real school like?" She asked me.
"Like in real life school?" I asked.
"Yes" she answered.
"Well- it's a bunch of kids your age, a teacher, seven classes, and everything is in person." I explained to her the best way possible
"Why? Are you considering wanting to go?" I asked, feeling a little excited.
"Yeah- actually" she mumbled
"I just think it would be nice to have some friends my age and get that experience in before going to college." She spoke reasonable reasons, but she didn't have to tell me any reasons
Her wanting to go showed me how far she has actually came
From a shy girl who would barely talk to me, to a confident girl who was stepping out of her comfort zone
And I couldn't be any prouder