For the current Chen Lizhou, he can't even perceive his own emotions, let alone fathom his thoughts.

Fortunately, there's Nan Zhubin.

In the consultation, the consultant can present the subconscious of the visitor, which is still unclear. This allows the visitor to face their own subconscious, unable to evade anymore.

Nan Zhubin said, "Regarding your wife's former student. You don't know what will happen after you meet him, nor do you know what he will say to you, even less do you know what kind of reaction you will have."

"—You cannot control the meeting process, cannot control your emotions, and can't even control whether you will suddenly fall into a state of dissociation."

"This 'unknown' makes you panic, makes you feel that everything you've been trying to maintain might be shattered."

At this point, Nan Zhubin changed his tone.

He looked at the contemplative Chen Lizhou in front of him and said, "During my time consulting, I have indeed encountered many visitors who consult me about 'choices'—including you."

"But the visitors who come into the consultation room with 'choices' have different purposes."

Nan Zhubin enumerated them as if counting his treasures: "Some visitors are genuinely perplexed by their current situation or can't untangle the complicated relationships around them, needing the consultant to help sort things out."

Nan Zhubin, as a consultant, listing such situations he encountered also alleviates Chen Lizhou's current anxiety.

"Some visitors are quite interesting. They actually already have answers to the 'choices' in their hearts, but these answers usually violate morality or lead to consequences they aren't willing to bear."

Nan Zhubin chuckled lightly, "In such cases, their purpose in asking the consultant is to get someone else to help them bear the responsibility of the 'choice.'

Chen Lizhou stirred, seemingly wanting to explain that he wasn't this type of visitor.

"And some visitors, although they are consulting about 'choices,' their real problem isn't the 'choices' themselves—their problem is the emotions brought by the 'choices.'

Nan Zhubin looked at Chen Lizhou, "Like you now."

"So, you're telling me about this, not because you want my advice, but because you want someone to vent the anxiety that comes with feeling faintly out of control when facing 'choices.'

"You are actually trying to alleviate this feeling of losing control by venting to me, the consultant, and attempting to regain a sliver of control—even if you don't realize it yourself."

Chen Lizhou fell silent.

After about three breaths, he nodded lightly, "It seems... that's the case."

Then he looked up, "So what should I do now?"

Nan Zhubin stated matter-of-factly, "Since there are emotions, let's go feel these emotions and then process these emotions."

What's more, it's this anxiety emotion which is very important to Chen Lizhou.

"And in the process of sensing and processing emotions, the 'choice' that triggers the emotions will naturally have an answer."

...

Chen Lizhou nodded thoughtfully.

But having sorted this far, Nan Zhubin wasn't in a rush.

Although this problem emerged suddenly at the end of the consultation during the summarization stage, the consultation has only lasted forty minutes.

At most, another ten minutes would suffice.

Moreover, a sudden event in Chen Lizhou's life that makes him feel anxious indeed, is quite a precious breakthrough in consultation.

If conditions permitted, Nan Zhubin would even like to open another consultation specifically to delve into the current situation.

He leaned forward and refilled Chen Lizhou's water cup, "Now let's talk about how you should 'feel.'

Nan Zhubin recalled, "You've always been accustomed to using reason to control everything, using patterns to counter loss of control. But we've also said before—that in your current situation, feeling the emotions themselves is therapeutic, and is the key to re-establishing Self connection."

Chen Lizhou took a sip from his water cup and then nodded, expressing agreement with Nan Zhubin's statement.

This consultation, after all, also focused on rediscovering his emotions.

"And the method we use now to feel emotions is quite familiar to you, still similar to the body scan state we've used before," Nan Zhubin stated, "though my guidance might be slightly different."

"Now, put the water cup back on the coffee table, close your eyes, relax your body, let your back lean against the sofa, and place your hands naturally on your knees."

This routine is already familiar to Chen Lizhou. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

He adjusted his posture according to Nan Zhubin's guidance, trying his best to relax his tense body, feeling the temperature of the water cup.

Nan Zhubin's voice became light and gentle, "We just talked about the 'meeting the student's wife' and 'life at risk of losing control' these two issues."

"But now—we don't have to think 'should I meet him,' don't have to think 'loss of control isn't scary,' nor think about any rational judgment. We concentrate all our attention on our bodies, concentrate on that feeling of anxiety."

"Inhale—exhale—"

Nan Zhubin's voice was like a spring breeze.

"Keep breathing naturally, no need to deliberately control."

"While inhaling, feel the air glide through your throat, fall onto your chest; while exhaling, feel the turbid air from your chest slowly being expelled, sense the body gradually relaxing."